Up In the Air and Sherlock Holmes

We saw two of the Christmas movies this week - Sherlock Holmes and Up in the Air. I expected a lot out of both but was satisfied with only one - Sherlock Holmes.

I must admit I came to Holmes with a bit of trepidation. I think of Holmes in the Conan Doyle motif or with the picture of Basil Rathbone. Robert Downey and Jude Law are not Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. But the movie is very engaging. It has an interesting story, interesting characters and great visual effects. Downey and Law work well together and the other characters are great supplements to the plot and the tone of the film.

Up in the Air is about an outplacement consultant who has constructed a life flying tons of miles. His greatest goal in life seems to be getting to 10 million miles on American airlines. His company hires a young MBA who decides that the way to do outplacement counseling is to use video chat. She is cold and precise. It sets up a good contrast between the distant Clooney and the young MBA. The plot gets more interesting when he encounters a sexy fellow traveler who has about the same number of gold cards. It gets even more interesting when Clooney's sister is about to get married and he helps solve a problem for a reluctant groom. But the movie is ultimately disappointing. The MBA's project fails and Clooney who finally has decided that 10 million miles on American is not all there is to life - finds that he cannot get back into the concept of relating to people. As we talked about the movie after we saw it we constructed about half a dozen alternative plots which could have made the movie more satisfying. But what we were left with was a good initial idea for a plot with some interesting characters who were left without much substance to work from.

I hope Downey comes back in this role - a sequel would be wonderful. Clooney should get back to what he does well, act in well developed stories.