No. Just NO.

[ellid]

This is Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie's in-progress movie.

This is how Arthur Conan Doyle described him in A Study in Scarlet:

"In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin, too, had the prominence and squareness which mark the man of determination."

The first person who sees anything of that in the above picture gets a gold star, and first dibs on smacking Guy Ritchie with a dead fish.

*********

Oddly enough, Jude Law as Dr. Watson seems a bit closer to the mark, even if no respectable Victorian doctor would be caught dead in a shirt of such cheap fabric that his unmentionables showed through the fabric....

Comments

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Re: RDJ

...maybe Jeff Goldblum was busy?

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Maybe Guy Ritchie is stunt casting?

Oh, yes - Irene Adler is reportedly in the film, and is played by someone named Rachel McAdams. I'm almost afraid to ask.

[gmonkey42.livejournal.com]

I went like this :O
Rachel McAdams is the head Mean Girl from Mean Girls.

[lherelenfeline.livejournal.com]

You have GOT to be kidding me!

[ellid.livejournal.com]

I WISH.

[hugh-mannity.livejournal.com]

Looks more like Charlie Chaplin on a bad hair day than Sherlock.

*adds movie to list of films not to watch even on Netflix*

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, Downey received an Oscar nomination for playing Charlie Chaplin in a biopick several years ago.

[gmonkey42.livejournal.com]

SERIOUSLY!

[helwen.livejournal.com]

What are they doing, the 7% Solution? Seriously, aside from the hat, none of his clothing is properly fitted.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

Also, except for the hat, none of it looks particularly Victorian. Watson's shirt is too thin, Holmes' vest has odd colors in it and doesn't fit....

[gmonkey42.livejournal.com]

And he's wearing sneakers! When is this supposed to take place?

Except he's also holding a Starbucks cup so maybe he's not in costume? (I hope)

[helwen.livejournal.com]

Try this photo: http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1596913&pid=3292333

I'm wondering if the pics of him with the bowler are of Sherlock in disguise?

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

That's more like it :-) (I'm not surprised that the others didn't look right--evidently he wasn't "on"....)

[semyaza.livejournal.com]

It's even worse than I thought it would be. No amount of slash can fix it.

[ladymorgana13.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely. However, I must say that Jude looks more like Doc Holliday here than Dr. Watson...

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Somehow, I don't think Sherlock would drink Starbucks, either.

[bronze-ribbons.livejournal.com]

Eek. On their own, the pics look interesting. But not Holmesian. *sigh*

[rwday.livejournal.com]

That's just wrong. Ignoring the Starbucks cup, the clothes don't fit, he looks like he's got 5 o'clock shadow (though that might be the picture's fault) and he's way too young unless they're doing some kind of 'young Sherlock Holmes' thing, and that's already been done.

Jude Law at least looks like a grown up.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

He may well be Holmes undercover, but even so - the face and coloring are completely wrong. If that is supposed to be a "hawk-like nose," then I'm Ann Margaret.

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

Someone's casting actors that look nothing like the descriptions in the source material? Stop the presses....

Jocularity aside, the costume in the pics you posted look more like Chaplin's "Little Tramp"; do you suppose they're actually from the biopic?

[persevero.livejournal.com]

That's a masher's hat, too - Holmes wouldn't have been seen dead in a curly brim, surely?

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

Perhaps not. By the same token, a Victorian gentleman wouldn't have been caught dead wearing a deerstalker In Town--but that didn't stop the film industry from misdressing Holmes :->

And As Long As We're On The Subject....

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

The protagonist in The Name of the Rose was meant to "signify" Sherlock Holmes (in fact, Eco's description of the character maps pretty closely ot the above).

So who was cast in that role in the film version? Sean Connery :-/

[tree_and_leaf]

Well, I suppose they ought to get points for not going for fat! bumbling! Watson (though the costume is, as you say, awful), but that's not even remotely like Holmes. Lestrade off duty, maybe.

[ladypeyton.livejournal.com]

RDJ *AND* Jude Law? I don't care what the subject is, that's a movie I'm going to watch several times on talent alone.