I'll start this blog out by saying I like Robert Downey Jr. and I think he's a marvelous actor. I've liked him ever since I saw him in the movie Chaplin back in 1992. But the episode The Speckled Band starring Jeremy Brett from the Granada series will show you why I'm having a very tough times taking RDJ seriously as Sherlock Holmes.
2 comments:
Downey Jr's Holmes is not going to be Jeremy Brett, but we need to remember that Jeremy Brett's Holmes is only one interpretation of the character. If we can divest ourselves of the Rathbone/Brett mold there are many ways to read the original stories. Certainly if you go back further than Rathbone, to the Wontner, Gillette, Barrymore or Norwood years, you find a very different detective.
I'm not saying that Downey Jr. will supplant Brett as the definitive Sherlock Holmes, only that there is room for his portrayal along side.
I agree with what you're saying about each actor who has played the part. Each actor who has played Sherlock Holmes has added something new to the character.
Not all of them have been successful, mind you. But it is another layer.
Although, I still feel you walk a tightrope when you try and introduce a "bold and dynamic" new take on Sherlock Holmes and try and reinvent the character as an action star.
And I suppose as long as you don't completely ignore what makes the character the character then you can make it work.
But there's this part of me that cringes a little bit whenever any production says "Forget everything you know about Sherlock Holmes".
At least this one hasn't stated that yet ;-)
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