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Rating:
Sherlock Holmes @ IMDB

Synopsis:
The world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.), is asked to aide in the investigation of several grisly murders throughout London. With a little help from his trusty sidekick, Dr. John Watson (Jude Law), the ruthless Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) is brought to justice, tried, and hung. But what was supposed to be their last case together, turns in to the mystery of a lifetime when Blackwood rises from the dead and sets out to reshape the modern world. Can Holmes solve this great caper on his own or are there sinister powers that even he can’t overcome?

Review:
I must say that I was thrilled when I first saw the trailer for this movie. It looked like the type of facelift that Sherlock Holmes needed. I’ve seen several old films with the great detective in them. Each of them was full of detail and the slow methodical resolution of the mystery at the heart of the story. That’s not to say that there was anything wrong with these old films. Most were great from what I remember. The problem is that they’re from a different time. They wouldn’t stand a chance in today’s box office, and they would never succeed in bring such a great character to the modern audience. Here’s my take on the film that will hopefully breath a little life in to a classic character.

Plot: My greatest complaint about the film was the plot. It wasn’t the story that bothered me so much as the pacing. The writers came up with a great story that fits right in with the type of mysteries I would expect from Sir Aurther Conan Doyle. The movie clocked in at roughly 2:15 which is on the long side by most standards. Its not that I felt bored. I simple wish that they went farther with that time rather than being more explicit. In other words, I wish that they had tightened up the exposition to show us a longer story rather than a more detailed story. Now, Holmes stories by nature are detailed, but that’s when it comes to print. Film is a different media and so what we expect is totally different. This might sound like I’m nitpicking, but this was an aspect that I found surprisingly disappointing.

Acting: The acting was solid in this film. RDJ and Jude Law played their characters well and the witty banter between the two is enjoyable. I’m afraid some of the better interchanges are in the trailer, but there is still a lot of quips and jabs to enjoy. RDJ is definitely having a good run, because this is another one in the bank. I have to admit that Rachel McAdams was good too. She plays Irene Addler, a former flame of Holmes and a criminal. Its not that I think she’s bad (I liked her in Red Eye and others), she just rarely stands out. To be honest, she still sits in the shadow of RDJ and Jude Law for this film.

Overall: As a whole, this was a good movie and I highly recommend you catch it at the theaters if you can. Its definitely worth the price of entry. Though I had trouble with the pacing/length of the plot, I didn’t really feel the 2:15 so I was pretty entertained. Since he’s been making some great ones, RDJ as Holmes is also a great reason to watch this film. Finally, it won’t be hard to catch the subplot that will surely lead to sequels, so I would catch this one in some form, even if it becomes a rental. All-in-all, this one is fuzz-worthy.

So before you get too far in to this post, I should warn you that this is not a post of philosophical musings about happened in the past year. It is about vision, quite literally. So I wear glasses. I have for a very long time. There are even some pictures of me with glasses that belong on an 80 year old man! It’s not so bad, and to be honest I’m just used to them now so it’s rare that I notice them.

When I got married earlier this year, I added vision insurance to my policies for 2009. The really reason was that my wife can’t see anything farther than 8 ft in front of her so we needed to get her some specs! In April, we got eye exams at the Hour Eyes a few miles down the road. My wife got some new glasses from them, but since my prescription didn’t change (yay, for my eyes!!!) I didn’t bother. Simple enough.

Faster forward to December 29th. That’s when I realized that I had paid for insurance for 9 months and that I hadn’t fully used it by getting glasses. Off to Hour Eyes we went, since they already had my prescription and took the insurance. After a little while, we found a set of frames that I liked. Next we getting in to a holding pattern for an associate. After a quick game of musical chairs we find ourselves discussing the finer points of optical accessorizing. Now the fun begins.

So I wanted a pair of backup glasses, since my current pair are perfectly fine. First we get the pitch for anti-glare coating on my lenses. Sounds great but it will cost me $45 after the insurance deduction. Reminding myself that I won’t use these everyday, I said pass. Being the ambitious sales person that this lady was, we being a battle of wills that I thankfully won. Now on to the lenses. I did decide to go with polycarbonate lenses. They cost more, but if you’ve ever worn real glass on your face, you’d cough up the money too. So after a few minutes on the computer, out comes my grand total of $115. I guess that’s not too bad, but curiosity proved to be friend. I enquired about the lenses. Sure enough, they were polycarbonate, but not just any polycarbonate, super-flat polycarbonate at a $50 premium!!!!!!! Had I not asked, this saleswoman would not have told me that she had made a choice for me. So re-thinking my choice and the choice made for me, I opt for regular polycarbonate lenses with an anti-glare coating. So lets do the math together: $115 – $50 + $45 = $110. That makes sense right? Well, my new total: $72. HUH?! Ok, so I whip out credit card, sign on the dotted line and out the door I run, thinking I saved a bunch. As I’m heading out the door, the saleswoman hands me a bag with lens-cleaner and tells me it comes complimentary with my anti-glare coating. Great, who cares, I’m going home!

As I sit here stewing over the fuzzy math, thinking about the decisions that were made without my explicit consent, and looking over my receipt, I realized a few things and I’m getting steadily more disappointed with what I consider a dishonest way of doing business. First, my free lens-cleaner actually cost $7, that bites, but not as bad as the rest. Second, my insurance deduction isn’t itemized, it’s just one lump-sum discount, very informative. Lastly, when the saleswoman told  me about the premium for the super-poly lenses, it was actually $50 per lens! I’m guess she was intentionally vague, because $50 is easier to sell than $100. Redoing the math, things are starting to make sense: $115 – $50 – $50 + $45 + $7 + tax & rounding = $72

To wrap-up this little rant…I went to a store, told a salesperson I wanted something, and they intentionally gave me a more expensive option without disclosing that there was a choice involved. Sure, she could argue that I asked for poly lenses and she gave me poly lenses. But I would argue that an honest salesperson would have presented the choice to me and let me make the decision for myself, not try to slip it under my nose. I hate being cynical and skeptical about people. (In fact I was lecturing my brothers about being a little more trusting.) I guess in the end, you still have look out for yourself, because there are still plenty of people looking to dupe you. Not such a great thought, but I’m going to try to hang on to my optimism. Makes me wonder if we got hoodwinked when we bought my wife glasses in April. Oh well, I guess this is the last time Hour Eyes will get my business.