It doesn't matter whether or not Sherlock Holmes is actually a good film: "selling out" doesn't always mean that the resulting motion picture has to be bad, after all - just a very consciously mainstream one. And in Guy Richie's case, the film that saw him selling his soul to Hollywood was actually pretty okay, if not a little... well, forgettable. Before he hitched a ride to Tinseltown, though, Richie was renowned for his violent, tough-talking gangster flicks. Sherlock Holmes felt like quite the departure. So for all the antagonising that came courtesy of Richie's fans when he announced that he was leaving the Lock, Stock aesthetics alone for a while to adapt Sherlock Holmes presumably forgot that he had already verged on the edges of "selling out" when he made Swept Away with his then-wife Madonna back in 2002. But that movie can't possibly be classed as the film that saw Richie selling himself out because it's far too much of an oddity and was presumably made with just one audience member in mind: Madonna herself. Nope: Sherlock Holmes marked Richie's true ascension into the Hollywood system - the budget of the movie and the intended audience haul absolutely guaranteed it as a sign of his having "sold out." So much so, in fact, that Richie was continually forced to explain his decision to helm a blockbuster time and time again in the build-up to the movie's release. His reasoning? It was just the right time, guys.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
