30 Days of Sherlock Holmes
Apr. 5th, 2011 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capt_facepalmDay 05 – Your Favorite Watson
So many Watsons... so little time!
Confession time: After Atticus Finch, John H Watson is my favourite literary character. With this in mind, I am bound to be critical of each and every portrayal. Also, there are many distinct holes in my Holmsian experience, so I will stick with the Watsons I am most familiar with.
Nigel Bruce
Sadly, the attempt was made to accentuate the brilliance of Holmes at the expense of his Boswell. Nigel Bruce has given us the indelible archetype of Watson as the bumbling sidekick. This was never evident in canon. Not really. Sometimes Holmes would deride Watson for seeing but not observing, and even verge to the point of meanness in pointing out the errors in Watson's conclusions. We get it. Holmes is the genius. Watson is not. But how this translated into Watson being inept is just a tragedy of history. Face it, if Holmes was such a genius, would he let an incompetent 'have his back'? Not likely.
Granada
I have not seen the whole series. In fact, I grew up with Edward Hardwicke as Watson so what I have seen of David Burke's portrayal seems a little stiff. I reserve the right to change my opinion on these two until I have viewed the whole series. One of my key components for any Watson is his compassion, and Edward Hardwicke is absolutely believable in this aspect.
The Great Mouse Detective
Major Dr. David Q. Dawson, previously of the Queen's 66th Regiment in Afghanistan. Full marks for compassion. Extra points for tie in with canon. Points deducted for having been based on Nigel Bruce's portrayal, but what can you do.
Murder by Decree
James Mason is one of my favourite Watsons. In fact, he might be my favourite choice for retirement era Watsons. I really like the interaction between him and Christopher Plummer as Holmes. Like everything, this movie has its critics, but I love the movie as a whole and could not do so if the characterisations were not well done.
John H Watson, Crime Doctor
Brilliant concept. Holmes is an idiot; Watson is the brains behind the detective. Ben Kingsley takes the bumbling sidekick cliché and turns it on its ear. This is a very entertaining alternative universe and could stand more entries, but I cannot really compare this Watson to the others. But, well done indeed!
Martin Freeman
I'm sure I will grow to appreciate this characterisation more as time progresses. Series I is certainly a great beginning and I hope more will be developed in future series.
Jude Law
I really should like Jude Law's portrayal more than I do. I really want to, but I don't. Here we have a capable Watson, complete with many pleasing attributes, among which appearance is duly noted. But where is the compassion? I see friendship between him and Holmes, affection between him and Mary, consideration for his patient and his housekeeper, but I think compassion was sacrificed for BAMFiness. His Watson is more interested in smacking Lord Blackwood about than taking care of the spaced-out missing girl. Really? Full marks for his loyalty to Holmes despite Holmes being manipulative and a real jerk sometimes.
Ian Hart (Hound of the Baskervilles, Case of the Silk Stocking)
Ian Hart has a subtlety in his portrayal that I find very attractive. He was the first of the recent iterations to play a physically and mentally capable Watson. Holmes is still the genius of the two, but Watson can hold his own and more. At first I cared very little for the Case of the Silk Stocking, but that probably was a reaction to Rupert Everett's Holmes and Watson's engagement to the widow, Mrs Vandeleur. Having recently viewed this movie, I watched specifically for Hart's performance, and it was superb. I still like his Hound better, but I find this Watson to be the most believable in every sense of the word.
So many Watsons... so little time!
Confession time: After Atticus Finch, John H Watson is my favourite literary character. With this in mind, I am bound to be critical of each and every portrayal. Also, there are many distinct holes in my Holmsian experience, so I will stick with the Watsons I am most familiar with.
Nigel Bruce
Sadly, the attempt was made to accentuate the brilliance of Holmes at the expense of his Boswell. Nigel Bruce has given us the indelible archetype of Watson as the bumbling sidekick. This was never evident in canon. Not really. Sometimes Holmes would deride Watson for seeing but not observing, and even verge to the point of meanness in pointing out the errors in Watson's conclusions. We get it. Holmes is the genius. Watson is not. But how this translated into Watson being inept is just a tragedy of history. Face it, if Holmes was such a genius, would he let an incompetent 'have his back'? Not likely.
Granada
I have not seen the whole series. In fact, I grew up with Edward Hardwicke as Watson so what I have seen of David Burke's portrayal seems a little stiff. I reserve the right to change my opinion on these two until I have viewed the whole series. One of my key components for any Watson is his compassion, and Edward Hardwicke is absolutely believable in this aspect.
The Great Mouse Detective
Major Dr. David Q. Dawson, previously of the Queen's 66th Regiment in Afghanistan. Full marks for compassion. Extra points for tie in with canon. Points deducted for having been based on Nigel Bruce's portrayal, but what can you do.
Murder by Decree
James Mason is one of my favourite Watsons. In fact, he might be my favourite choice for retirement era Watsons. I really like the interaction between him and Christopher Plummer as Holmes. Like everything, this movie has its critics, but I love the movie as a whole and could not do so if the characterisations were not well done.
John H Watson, Crime Doctor
Brilliant concept. Holmes is an idiot; Watson is the brains behind the detective. Ben Kingsley takes the bumbling sidekick cliché and turns it on its ear. This is a very entertaining alternative universe and could stand more entries, but I cannot really compare this Watson to the others. But, well done indeed!
Martin Freeman
I'm sure I will grow to appreciate this characterisation more as time progresses. Series I is certainly a great beginning and I hope more will be developed in future series.
Jude Law
I really should like Jude Law's portrayal more than I do. I really want to, but I don't. Here we have a capable Watson, complete with many pleasing attributes, among which appearance is duly noted. But where is the compassion? I see friendship between him and Holmes, affection between him and Mary, consideration for his patient and his housekeeper, but I think compassion was sacrificed for BAMFiness. His Watson is more interested in smacking Lord Blackwood about than taking care of the spaced-out missing girl. Really? Full marks for his loyalty to Holmes despite Holmes being manipulative and a real jerk sometimes.
Ian Hart (Hound of the Baskervilles, Case of the Silk Stocking)
Ian Hart has a subtlety in his portrayal that I find very attractive. He was the first of the recent iterations to play a physically and mentally capable Watson. Holmes is still the genius of the two, but Watson can hold his own and more. At first I cared very little for the Case of the Silk Stocking, but that probably was a reaction to Rupert Everett's Holmes and Watson's engagement to the widow, Mrs Vandeleur. Having recently viewed this movie, I watched specifically for Hart's performance, and it was superb. I still like his Hound better, but I find this Watson to be the most believable in every sense of the word.
