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Date: 1/15/2016
This week’s film to be reviewed is the latest installment in the BBC series “Sherlock.”
It is a testimony to the popularity of this latest adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle beloved detective that it was released as a TV show, in theaters as a special event and shortly thereafter on home video as well as streaming.
I was eager to see this production as I was wondering just how writers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffatt would present the characters they had modernized as more or less their original selves.
I’m happy to say the result was a lavish, period accurate film that included many details of the Conan Doyle original stories, while at the same time propelling forward the narrative the series has established in contemporary times.
Set in the latter part of the 19th century, Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) is presented with a puzzle: how could a young bride kill herself in front of many witnesses and then turn up to murder her philandering husband?
At the same time, Holmes is given a challenge by his older brother Mycroft (played in a great fat suit by series regular Mark Gatiss) to solve a mystery for which that he already has the solution.
Both of these stories are actually happening in Holmes’ mind as he sits on the airplane that whisked him away from the conclusion of the previous installment.
Perhaps placing the characters in the settings Doyle intended adds a certain level of production that gives this film a richer feel, but “The Abominable Bride” carries itself more as a standalone movie than part of an interlocking narrative.
There is also a grand sense of humor running through the film. Watson (Martin Freeman) has begun selling his stories of Holmes’ exploits to The Strand Magazine and Holmes has become a celebrity. Watson insists Homes wears the signature deerstalker cap, while Holmes prefers the more fashionable top hat.
Mrs. Hudson, their loyal landlady, is miffed that she doesn’t get much attention in the stories and Holmes instructs Watson to give her a line of dialogue or two in the next story.
I loved the details such as Watson’s seemingly faltering marriage; the fact that Holmes wears a locket with a photo of Irene Adler; and how the world’s greatest detective can’t figure out the coroner with whom he spars is actually a woman disguised as a man.
As a Holmes fan raised on the films starring Basil Rathbone and who enjoyed Peter Cushing’s and Jeremy Brett’s portrayals of the character I welcomed the chance of seeing Cumberbatch perform his Holmes in the “old school” manner.
This week Netflix announced its most popular film exclusive to the streaming network was Adam Sandler’s’ “The Ridiculous Six,” his first in a multi-purpose film deal.
Instead on aiming on producing movies for theatrical release, Netflix and Sandler have created a new model for what has been described as “direct to video” films.
Your loyal film scribe has tried to watch the film, but its utter stupidity and tastelessness defeated him. Yes, not even the fast forward button could save me.
The film is about a man raised by Native Americans who has become an exemplary warrior and discovers his outlaw father wants to give him his ill-gotten gains. Along the way of his journey, the son discovers he has five half-brothers.
This film is done with the subtlety of a burlesque skit from 1935. It is painfully politically incorrect and outright offensive at times.
And yet it is a success. One can only wonder what will be the next offering Sandler and Netflix gives subscribers.