Actors: Nicholas Rowe, Alan Cox, Sophie Ward, Anthony Higgins
Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Young Sherlock Holmes
Young John Watson meets young Sherlock Holmes, already renowned for his deductive powers, in a London boarding school. When a series of businessmen die bizarre deaths involving hallucinations that induce a desperate panic and eventual self-slaughter, Holmes has a problem worthy of his skills. There's a love interest named Elizabeth Hardy, provided to explain why Holmes never again settled his affections seriously on the fairer sex, and a climactic duel on the icy Thames. Future "Harry Potter" director Chris Columbus penned this somewhat cute and pat 1985 thriller, directed by Barry Levinson and produced by Spielberg, which featured the first completely CGI character, created by Pixar -- a knight that crashes through a plate glass window. Strains credulity, and the Watson kid is overly buffoonish, but the movie is reasonably charming and entertaining.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Analysis of Young Sherlock Holmes
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie Actual chase scenes or violence - 30% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How difficult to spot villain?
- Moderately Challenging
Time/Era of Movie:
- 19th century
Murder Mystery?
Yes
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 60%
Murders of set profession?
- businessmen
Kind of mystery?
- amateur citizen investigator
Romance
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- short/standard straight (man)
Body type
- very skinny (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Body type
- fat (man)
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- a teen
Profession/status:
- mastermind
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- obsessed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
City?
Yes
City:
- London
- Dirty, grimy (like New York)
- dangerous
- wealthy
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately messy visuals of dead
Movie makes you feel...
- encouraged
How many deaths in film?
- 4-8
Kind of violence:
- hand to hand
- guns
Unusual forms of death
- poisoning
Is this movie based on a
- book
