My last cinema trip of 2009 was to Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes and I emerged from the cinema with mixed feelings. While Sherlock Holmes was thoroughly entertaining (explosions, slow-mo fight sequences that put the Wachowski brothers to shame, high speed chases) I was nonetheless extremely disappointed by its essential lack of substance. Guy Richie's interpretation was cinematographically speaking, very skillfully crafted, managing to evoke Arthur Conan Doyle's smoggy, festering, Victorian London beautifully. In spite of this, I'd be amazed if anyone who is at all familiar with the clever,intricate stories that Arthur Conan Doyle created was genuinely satisfied by this limp and predictable plot. Where was the suspense? Where were the twists? Where were the mind-boggling acts of deduction? All of this was dispensed with in exchange for an unnecessarily sexed-up story. Guy Richie's Sherlock Holmes can be found handcuffed naked in hotel rooms and his crafty female adversary Irene Adler is little more than a glorified courtesan here. I was surprised Richie didn't go the whole hog and hone in on Holmes' Opium addiction, just to round off his degeneracy nicely. While Guy Richie's daring (arrogance?) in taking an established and much-loved character and devising an entirely new story around him should be celebrated- I simply wish he'd taken the time to match (if not surpass) the quality of the original text.
Last night I went to see Nancy Meyers' latest effort It's Complicated starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. To say that it was predictable from the outset is a profound understatement. I think Nancy Meyers is one director whose ardent love of the 1+1=2 school of filmmaking will never fade. I imagine Meyers' modus operandi when producing a new film is something like this:
1. Cast established, essentially wholesome-looking Hollywood star (tick),
2.Identify unfeasibly sundrenched/picturesque location (see The Holiday (tick),
3. Dress interior sets in a palette of showhome-like neutrals (tick),
4. Establish protagonists' likeability by demonstrating a moderate propensity for emotional instability and/or social awkwardness (tick),
5. Introduce protagonist's love interest at a convenient moment
6. credits
Aside from this, It's complicated has the problem of appearing to suggest that it's ok to have an extramarital affair as long as your mistress is a) Meryl Streep and b) your ex-wife. This wouldn't really be a problem if the film wasn't simultaneously so saccharine. Nancy Meyers seems to be saying "Yes, Alec Baldwin is cheating on his wife of several years with Meryl Streep but it's all in good fun, and everyone lives in a nice house, what's your problem?" Unchallenging and predictable, Nancy Meyers has found her magical formula and she's sticking to it because,on the most basic level, it works. Don't be fooled by the fact that It's Complicated explores relationships and romance between 'older people', nobody says "movie star" like Meryl Streep! This is standard, bland 'romantic comedy' at it's best(worst?).
