My biggest mistake in going to see “Sherlock Holmes” was expecting to see Sherlock Holmes in it.
It’s true, there was a character called Sherlock Holmes in the movie. But he had not much in common with the character that Arthur Conan Doyle created. He was Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes.
When Guy Ritchie started making this movie, I’m sure he asked himself “How can I make this a blockbuster?” He must have then asked the question, “which are the recent bestselling movies that were based on books?”
The Harry Potter series, the Da Vinci Code, and Ludlum’s Jason Bourne series must have come to mind.
So Guy Ritchie must have told himself – let me take the key ideas in all of them and mix them up. That will make my movie an even bigger blockbuster than any of them.
So that’s what he did.
Here is the recipe for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes:
Ingredients:
1 Part Harry Potter (Key Ideas: Magic, Books of Spells)
1 Part Da Vinci Code (Key Ideas: Secret Brotherhoods)
1 Part James Bond (Key Ideas: Look like a Male Supermodel, Pursue Armed and Dangerous Women, Wake up Chained to Bed)
1 Part Robert Ludlum (Key Ideas: Plot for World Dominance)
1 Part Sop to US Audience (Key Ideas: Make sure to tell audience that the World dominance plot starts with the US)
1 Part Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes (Key Ideas: make sure to include every eccentric trait of Holmes)
1 Part Watson. Add a touch of Mary.
Mix all ingredients. Shake Well. Serve chilled.
This much seems clear. What I still don’t understand is the scene where Sherlock Holmes opens a (beer?) bottle with his teeth. Where did that come from?
ak
Syahir
Preeti
shyam
I have the same argument...
Conan Doyle, a Scottish author, created Sherlock Holmes, a bohemian sleuth, portrayed every bit as an Englishman. Surely there had to be something Scots about him. That is probably the opening-the-beer-with-the-teeth part. Scottish men look and probably are tougher, although also fabulous in kilts but I digress. Besides in Holmes’s time, beer caps were like “banta” caps and not of the modern kind requiring an opener so it wasn’t so hard. Now if Ritchie has missed this canny historic detail, shame on him since he is a publican in Mayfair.
Sorry, I should have been clearer – I’m not sure if Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes ever opened a bottle cap with his teeth – it’s only Guy Ritchie’s who did. For all of the original Holmes’ eccentricities, I cannot imagine him doing anything like that.
Lekhni: My comment was clearly not very clear either. I meant that since Conan Doyle created him as an Englishman, the mockney Englishman Ritchie had to introduce something Scots into his character. And as I said, it really is a “modern” twist as the beer bottles then had a “banta” cap which if opened with one’s teeth would land a whole lot of ceramic dust in one’s mouth.
Good stuff. You just saved me ten bucks.
Thanks. “We can but try.”
Opening beer bottle with teeth is common in the US-esp,corona bottle caps are opened by twisting