ELEMENTARY (Paramount, 2012) Creator: Robert Doherty, w/ Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu. Rating: NN DVD package: NN Rating: NN
Much of the fun of Elementary’s update of Victorian sleuth Sherlock Holmes to contemporary New York City is lost in episodes that feel visually and verbally cramped.
Some of Holmes’s cases are brilliantly baffling, most notably the multi-episode master criminal story that ends the season, and all highlight his clever deductions. But Jonny Lee Miller (as Holmes) yells them (and almost all his dialogue) in a rapid-fire, grating monotone. This is consistent with a character reimagined as a recovering addict without social skills, but it gets annoying fast.
Watson, Holmes’s companion, is here refigured as a paid female ensurer of his continued sobriety. The two begin in a mutual distaste that by mid-season has softened to respect. Watson gets considerable character development, and Lucy Liu handles the role with a brisk thoughtfulness that makes her a match for Miller’s Holmes, and far more watchable.
The gloomy browns of Holmes’s cavernous apartment and the shabby police station that features prominently in most episodes add to the overall oppressive feel.
On the first extras doc, A Holmes Of Their Own, creator Robert Doherty provides an interesting account of how and why he reshaped the characters. Elsewhere, Miller and Liu make revealing remarks on their roles.
EXTRAS Development doc, six making-of promos, Holmes character doc, Watson character doc. English audio. English, Spanish, Portuguese subtitles.
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