Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Kelly Reilly, Mark Strong
Rating: PG-13

Jude Law (left) and Robert Downey Jr. star in Sherlock Holmes. (Courtesy photo)

Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective Sherlock Holmes has been portrayed on-screen more often than almost any other character, but few versions have so upset the purists as the latest one. Is the new Sherlock Holmes a Hollywood action film jam-packed with effects-driven nonsense? Of course it is. Does it fall apart in the third act like most blockbusters of this sort? For heaven’s sake, yes. Is there far more inventive detective work performed here than in any other Holmes movie I’ve seen? As a matter of fact there is. One could argue that the true measure of a Sherlock Holmes movie is not so much what the mystery is, or how it’s solved. It’s the style in which Holmes goes about solving it. Not surprisingly, Robert Downey Jr. does it with about as much style as one could hope. British director Guy Ritchie was an odd choice to helm this giant franchise, considering all he’s done is make the same movie four times with diminishing returns. He actually does OK—or at least not nearly as bad as one might fear. Ritchie (Snatch, Revolver) slows down his hyper-kinetic visual style until it just barely jibes with Hollywood’s Victorian England.

If you like your Holmes classy and dignified, the great Basil Rathbone is your man. If you want him restrained, slightly haunted, and fairly loyal to the source material, the fine Jeremy Brett is the Holmes for you. Robert Downey Jr. is the “what if” Holmes. What if his hinted-at dabbles in pugilism and substance abuse were more on the surface? What if his deep friendship with Dr. Watson (Jude Law) were as complex and co-dependent as it sometimes seemed? That’s the Holmes we start with here—young, self-destructive, and despondent at losing Watson to the lovely Mary (Kelly Reilly). The plot involves the shadowy Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong), who would have made a classic Holmes himself. Holmes and Watson stop him in the midst of his fifth ritualistic murder. But even the hangman’s noose is not enough to stop Blackwood from apparently coming back from the dead and threatening a reign of terror. Not only that, but Holmes’ elusive love and intellectual equal Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) is also somehow involved.

The story goes on a good 20 minutes too long, as Ritchie and his team of writers try to pack way too much in. The surprise is their level of success. The plot itself need not have been so silly and “effects-y,” and could have used more forward momentum. But the Holmes-Watson relationship is enjoyably mined, and suits the two actors quite well. Blackwood is a fairly worthy adversary, and Miss Adler, in spite of an underwhelming performance by the wonderful Rachel McAdams, a worthy love interest. The art direction is more washed out than need be, but Philippe Rousselot’s (Interview with the Vampire) cinematography helps. And Hans Zimmer has put together a marvelous, string-heavy score—the first hummable one in recent memory.

Robert Downey Jr. has certainly made the most of his late entry into superstardom. Holmes marks his second franchise, along with the superior Iron Man. The differences between the two characters aren’t all that great, since both revolve so utterly around Downey’s ability to draw focus. He’s working at the peak of his showman abilities, and doesn’t seem able to make a wrong move on-screen. Now the trick is to avoid overexposure. Jude Law has received a nifty career boost himself as Watson. Law is perhaps the bigger surprise, playing second banana with such spirit and style. Watson as a gun-toting brawler may be more of a stretch than the liberties taken with Holmes, but it suits him nicely. Chameleon Mark Strong (Syrianna, Stardust, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) will inch closer to the recognition he deserves by imbuing Blackwood with more than just hisses and growls. Rachel McAdams (Wedding Crashers, State of Play) seemed like the perfect choice to play master thief Irene Adler. But Miss Adler needs presence, and the very talented actress is hamstrung by her rather small voice and the fact that she’s the only one speaking in an American accent.

In the movie A Beautiful Mind, Ron Howard attempted to visualize John Nash’s genius. It was a poorly executed idea, and it didn’t work. This time the writers literally slow time and walk us through Holmes’ deductive process. The implication: he thinks at a speed far greater than those around him. The execution: a hoot. It helps that, unlike A Beautiful Mind, Sherlock Holmes does not aspire to be Oscar-bait. Nor will it be; even Victorian England, for all the grime, looks far too cartoonish most of the time. But when you consider all the ways this movie could have been worse, it’s really something of a sideways triumph. Sherlock Holmes is as crude as it is clever, as sloppy as it is refined. But for most of its 128 minutes it sure is a lot of fun.

Alex Manugian lives in Sherman Oaks, Calif. He grew up in Groton and has reviewed movies for Harvard readers for many years.