Due to my serious addiction to way too many series that you now conveniently get on dvd I must honestly confess that I hardly ever watch movies anymore. This is kind of sad because obviously I am missing out but the addiction is as strong as a case of OCD. I can’t help it. I love watching characters evolve and grow. I love questioning storylines and plots. I love observing dialogue. I love wondering what happens next…
I do however go to the movies from time-to-time. This holds a more social aspect to it though. It’s an outing so it has that extra element to it. If you’re going to be at home watching tv what difference does it make if you’re watching the latest blockbuster or the latest season of Grey’s Anatomy?
The other day I went to watch Sherlock Holmes. Now you must understand I have a bit of a love for Robert Downey Jr and it’s a love that was cultivated not by Heart & Souls or Ironman but by the fourth and fifth seasons of Ally McBeal. This love of course insisted that I go and see the interpretation of a story that I have never read. Sometimes I prefer this. As much as I try to judge a movie on it’s merits as a movie and not compare it to the book from which it was born, I do sometimes find myself moaning about the butchery of some of my favourite tales. Bridget Jones’ Diary would be a perfect example of this – they killed her – seriously! Those books are awesome. Imagine they decide to do an Adrian Mole movie and completely fuck up the main character? The very heart and soul of the story. It’s just not cool.
Anyway – I couldn’t compare the movie to the books at all because I have never read any of them (I seriously should!) but I did find myself going “gosh these two remind me of House and Wilson” and that quite made me happy. What made me even happier is when I made the observation to some random guy that I met at a party and he confirmed that House and Wilson were actually based on Holmes and Watson. Stupid the things that make us all giddy and excited!
Now really the storyline of the movie was relatively weak (not so good as far as movie going needs are concerned perhaps) and it definitely goes through a bit of a lull in the middle there somewhere – but I am certainly a character driven consumer and the dynamic between Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law is pretty spectacular and I very much enjoyed watching them. I think that these kinds of over-exaggerated (without being slapstick!) characters are what I love most about a lot of the series you get today. TV writers have it waxed. They take a quirk and completely blow it up and with the help of the right actors they create these absolutely beautiful people. It’s quite a thing to behold when you think about it. I like that it’s seeping over into the movies now.
I do think it would be quite interesting if they would remake the whole thing and put House and Wilson in the lead roles though….