Sherlock Holmes (2009) & why you need to be a House M.D. fan to 'get it'

Sherlock Holmes (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/) is a re-imagining of Arthur Conan Doyle's detective, played indelibly by Jeremy Brett (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Brett) for the 4 Granada television series. Jeremy Brett to me is the quintessential Holmes. Perfect down to the last bone. I'm a confessed Sherlock Holmes fanboy and I've read no other detective series as exhaustively as I have read Holmes. 

Therefore, I figured it would be quite interesting to observe my reaction to Guy Ritchie's adaptation, given his fearsome reputation for making movies that resemble the blunt objects with which the characters murder each other. 

So I saw Sherlock Holmes. Once. Twice. And loved it! What's going on here? For anyone who is even a minor Sherlock Holmes fan would be horrified at Holmes' filthy appearance (not matching with Conan Doyle's description of Holmes' love for 'cat like cleanliness'), horrified that Holmes has had flings with Irene Adler (although Conan Doyle does say she was the only woman who 'mattered' to him). 

For one, Holmes fan or not, Sherlock Holmes (2009) is fun. Like Congo (1995) [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112715/] is fun. 

The next thing is the casting. Robert Downey Jr. (RDJ) is on fire these days and I am a fan. Iron Man has grown on me & RDJ was hilarious in Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942385/). Jude Law plays Watson and looks Watson and is perfect.

But what's the hidden sauce here? It's House M.D. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412142/)believe it or not. House M.D. is based entirely on Sherlock Holmes. Only, House is not a detective, but a doctor. Watson is called Wilson. House even stays at 221B! And House M.D. reinvented Sherlock Holmes to me. After I had seen the last of the Jeremy Brett series and longed for more, House M.D. came in and filled the gap. But wait, this Holmes was different! He was still analytical, the 'grand templar of rationality' and so on. But he was also different. He stole Wilson's clothes, his money, played pranks and manipulated people. He had little flings and bickered with Wilson.

Sherlock Holmes (2009) is as influenced by House M.D. as Casino Royale was by the Bourne Series. In both cases, we have a new interpretation that brings colour to the franchise. When I was watching Sherlock Holmes, I felt like I was watching an extended episode of House, same as when I was watching Casino Royale, I felt I was watching Bourne. 

So, I like the new Holmes & Watson and their world. The purists might snort at the new beginnings  and say it 'cheapens' things, but I argue that this is Holmes for the twenty first century, even though the movie is set in a different era.

So, go watch it! And then, start watching House M.D. I started in November, 2004 & haven't been able to stop since!