SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009) *** You have to admire the producer who fell for this one: "We'll have Guy Ritchie do a Sherlock Holmes movie, really violent you know; and Robert Downey, Jr. as Holmes." I would have had difficulty seeing it, but they're right, it works great. Robert has never more clearly been the leading man previously sighted with some irregularity....he's got the brains, he's got the guts, he's got the brawn, he's gonna outsmart the bad guys and kick their asses! And with Guy pulling at the controls for the violence...it's really a special kind of feel-good movie, where everybody's hurtin'. For all that it never quite delivers on the nearly historic promise that lasts into the second half. It settles for being entertaining and hip and smart and all filled with action, but it had flirted with even more than that. Jude Law and Robert have a great buddy vibe and Kelly Reilly has several really good scenes, but it's not entirely clear to me that all of the players are ready to play at the level of the lead.
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