Monday, September 01, 2008

Sherlock Homie

Jeffrey Welles' Hollywood Elsewhere is a website I log on to at least twice a day every day. I don't always agree with his opinions but he's such a good writer, a wise critic and a witty insider that he's worth the occasional irritation (his trashing of director Bob Clark when Clark and his son were barely twenty four hours dead really pissed me off) I thought I'd share an example of his work with you tonight. Especially since it bears on our field.

Sherlock Homie copyright 2008 by Jeffrey Welles

"There's a story up today about Russell Crowe, 44, thinking about accepting a second-banana role as Dr. Watson in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, subordinate to star Robert Downey, Jr. If true, it simply means that Crowe has moved into that 40-plus phase in which a top-dog actor figures (a) "if I like the part, I like the part" and (b) "I don't have to be the big star every time out."

"Jack Nicholson went through the same thing in the early '80s (when he was also in his mid 40s) when he took supporting roles in Reds and Terms of Endearment.

"A few minutes ago I mistyped the title of the Ritchie film as Sherlock Homie -- and the instant I did that it hit me that this would be a much better vehicle for Richie and Warner Bros. than a Baker Street period piece with the hat and the pipe. We all know Ritchie isn't going to respect the trappings of the original Arthur Conan Doyle character, so why even go there? But a brilliant modern-day London detective with perhaps an old-fashioned sense of reserve and decorum going up against the malignant criminal animals who've appeared in previous Ritchie films? That I would pay to see! Especially with Downey."

for the rest go here:

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2008/09/sherlock_homie.php

Ed here: Does anybody else sense that this movie as proposed will be another huge Sherlockian embarrassment?t

1 comment:

Fred Blosser said...

Apparently "Proof of Life" and "A Good Year" didn't kill Crowe's career, but this one may.