Wednesday
09Jul2008
Confirmed: Robert Downey Jr. to Play Sherlock Holmes
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 10:34PM 
Variety has confirmed that
Robert Downey Jr. has signed on to play
Sherlock Holmes in the drama of the same name to be directed by
Guy Ritchie. According to the report, Downey
agreed to the role once Ritchie punched up the script, originally written by
Anthony Peckham.
This marks the first actual signing by Downey since the
release of Iron Man, though he's been linked to just about everything in
the last two months, from the movie role of Hugh Hefner to the father of Jamie
Lynn Spears' kid to Obama's running mate. Yep, it's been a heady time for one of
Hollywood's most gifted and once most troubled talents.
It's also been a really strange year for the world's
most celebrated detective, fictional or otherwise. Although I
voiced my opinion that Holmes needed to get a
new film franchise back in April, there have been not one but two completely
unrelated developments. They're unrelated because I have absolutely no influence
whatsoever.
First came the rumors that
Ritchie and Downey would team up, then less
than two weeks ago we heard the rather shocking news that
a comedy was being produced based on Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle's famous hero, with Sacha Baron Cohen in the starring role and Will
Ferrell as Dr. Watson. It appears that the Downey version will begin filming
first, although I have to say I actually believe Sacha Baron Cohen would be a
better choice for a dramatic Holmes than Downey is. I'm not entirely convinced
Downey is the perfect choice here; he was for Iron Man and now he's getting a
lot of support as the popular choice for roles rather than the perfect choice
(see Anthony Hopkins in Nixon).
It isn't that he's not up to the challenge, merely that
it's a bit more of a stretch for Downey than a pale, 6'4" Briton with a
pronounced nose and a flair for disguises like Cohen.
Reader Comments (2)
There's nothing RDJ can't do. The man played Chaplin, for crying out loud. He will nail this thing. The downside here is Ritchie. What a terrible director.
I think, more than anything, it's a weird tandem for this project. I'd be higher on Downey, who I think is a brilliant actor, if it were a different director, perhaps someone who's a bit more precise. I can't see a loosey-goosey Sherlock Holmes, and I don't think Ritchie commands enough respect to force Downey to do something he doesn't normally do, or would fall into out of habit because he does it so well.