As a more or less life long fan of Sherlock Holmes (and Arthur Conan Doyle in general) I was a little hesitant to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie because of the dismissive tone of the reviews. Clueless critics complained about how Holmes and Watson had been turned into modern day action heroes, buddy cops, and so on, thus missing the point of the Holmes character. Don't listen to 'em. These people clearly don't know much about The Canon.

Holmes and Watson were ALWAYS action heroes and they were always the bickering odd couple that nevertheless had each others'  backs when the chips were down. And fer God's sake, people, Watson mentions Holmes' enthusiasm for melee style fighting numerous times. He studied boxing in college; he was strong enough to bend a poker in half; he was never in a better mood than when he had the opportunity to get in a good old barroom brawl while he was out gathering intel. When he's not poking people in the eye he's going after them with a stout stick or a riding crop. One of the reasons Holmes always reminds Watson to bring along his service revolver is because Holmes isn't into guns - he'd rather get up close and personal.

But the best thing about this movie is that finally we get to see Watson for what he obviously was if we read between the lines of his stories - a man of action (as Holmes repeatedly calls him) and a fully competent partner in Holmes' investigations. I've generally hated Sherlock Holmes movies because they typically portray Holmes as either glacially remote or a quivering sissy, and Watson as a blustering buffoon. In terms of the dynamic duo, this movie gets it right.

As for the convoluted and melodramatic plot with the supernatural overtones - ever read Hound of the Baskervilles? Doyle would have loved this plot, if he could have gotten away with it. 

Doyle might have been a little taken aback by the turn that Irene Adler has taken, but it's a natural progression. I've sometimes thought that Irene was the prototype for the smart, sexy, action vixen that started with Emma Peel and evolved into the kind of females that ring Joss Whedon's chimes. Irene Adler was really quite a daring character for her day. She wasn't an international criminal, but she was "an adventuress" (Victorian speak for "she had sex without being married"). She also disguised herself as a man occasionally so she could run around London having adventures of the non-sexual kind. She was talented and independent and she was smart enough to put one over on the brainiest man alive. Irene Adler is one of the things I most love about Doyle. Not every proper Victorian Brit would come up with a dream girl like that one.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It's surprisingly well written. I'm still not 100% sure that the plot holds together, but I'm not sure that it doesn't either. The dialogue is rapid-fire and witty, the acting is impeccable, the visual details are wonderful, and the method that Ritchie uses for demonstrating Holmes' deductive methods works extremely well. Personally, I would have preferred a somewhat less disreputable version of Holmes, but it's not an unreasonable interpretation. In any case, Robert Downey delivers it with a perfect blend of humor and hunkiness that is definitely reminiscent of Sean Connery's James Bond. But IMHO, Watson makes the movie. Not only does Jude Law have the uncanny ability to steal every scene in every movie I've ever seen him in, the movie is actually more about Watson than it is about Holmes. It's kind of a coming of age story, as Watson tries to move beyond the Peter Pan lifestyle he's been enjoying with Holmes into the grownup world of a responsible job and a family.

Weather is dismal, looks like a good night for a movie night.

Has anyone seen "District 9"? How is it? It's playing out its last gasp at the Riverview.

For some reason, we like to eat out on Sunday evening. Historically this has been a problem in Minnesota. I remember a time when it was hard to find a restaurant open on Sunday evening that wasn't a 24-hour chain. But now there's lots. We decided to see a movie at the Lagoon so we could reasonably combine it with dinner at "Passage to India," one of our favorite restaurants.

"Passage to India" was as good as ever. They have the crispiest, lightest papadums anywhere. I should probably try something besides Kashmiri Lamb sometime, but theirs is SO good that I always get it. I have to wonder, however, why Kashmiri anything should have pineapple in it. It's hard to think of a locale less conducive to fresh pineapple. Or are there parts of Kashmir that are not high, cold mountains? Richard got Bombay chicken, which is another creamy dish but with entirely different seasoning that went very well with the lamb.

For the cinematic portion of the evening's entertainment, we finally saw "Juno." It was really good - much better than I expected for some reason. Maybe it's because I took so long to finally see it that the buzz had moved from over-hyped to backlash. It might not be as wonderful as the original critical reaction suggested, but it's a lot better than the backlash said.