Guy Ritchie’s latest film, Sherlock Holmes, has redefined the mystery/action movie genre. His imaginative portrayal of London, as well as his interpretation of the mastermind sleuth, has found imperious success with audiences across the country. Most critics have found his work to be a little updated so as to catch the eye of the 21st century crowd. My personal thought would dictate that Ritchie was merely staying true to himself. His honest image of Holmes was that he was pure genius in his own time. In an article with esquire Ritchie refers to Sherlock Holmes as the “first martial artist in the Western World” (esquire article, pg 1). He reasons this, through the intellect mind of Mr. Holmes, by breaking down each blow that is dealt to the latter combatant. "Holmes was a gentleman, but he was also a street guy who could scruff it up a bit. I thought the story had lost that part of its essence" (esquire article, pg. 1). He uses the martial arts as an extension of Holmes‘s sly and witty character. When Holmes engages in a combat scenario within the film, Ritchie slows the film to portray a step by step engagement with the assailant(s). It is almost as if he has a clairvoyant foresight of his adversaries. He can pinpoint the opponent’s next move and visualize the entire fight from start to finish before it happens. Again this seems almost supernatural; yet, if one was as intellect as Holmes is they could too realize this and take into account the totality of circumstances. Doing this brings about a foresight of the opponents decisions to attack. Thus, clairvoyance is obtained by simply understanding the factors that produce the opponent’s motivation to act. Conclusively, Ritchie has stayed true to his own artistic style and takes another step into enhancing a masterpiece storyline.

Works Cited:

Chiarella, Tom. "Guy Ritchie Interview on Madonna, Divorce, Sherlock Holmes, and Life - Esquire." Beautiful Women, Men's Fashion, Best Music, Drink Recipes - Esquire.com. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.esquire.com/features/guy-ritchie-interview-1109>.

Denby, David. "Going Native." The New Yorker 4 Jan. 2010: 78. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Apr. 2010.

The Works

Three major movies can be attributed to the success of Mr. Guy Ritchie; Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the ever familiar Sherlock Holmes. Although, there are more to come, Ritchie’s three masterpiece works have built him a resume that cannot be paralleled. His style and creativity are more than transparent in each one of these films. There is no wonder that he acquires the finest actors in Hollywood for he is one of the finer story tellers. Snatch had an all-star cast including Brad Pitt, Jason Statham and Benicio Del Toro. The movie contains several stories within itself, which of course intertwine with one another and play themselves out conclusively for better or worse. I have talked about Ritchie’s (joker, macabre) sense of humor previously and believe that Snatch is the best example for that. Very violent and fighting based, Snatch tends to revolve around underground boxing and betting. It is a movie that is well worth the audience’s time and money. Sherlock Holmes still has the violence, but from an angle that most of us have never seen before. The film portrays Holmes as a genius that has developed his own type of martial arts. The movie still contains a lot of quick-witted humor from both Robert Downy Jr. and Jude Law. The story concludes with the hero outsmarting the villain but of course the story is involved with a bigger plot leading the audience to believe that another film is already in production.

Works cited:

Chiarella, Tom. "Guy Ritchie Interview on Madonna, Divorce, Sherlock Holmes, and Life - Esquire." Beautiful Women, Men's Fashion, Best Music, Drink Recipes - Esquire.com. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.esquire.com/features/guy-ritchie-interview-1109>.

"Guy Ritchie - Biography." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005363/bio>.

Where does it all come from?

Guy Ritchie’s sense of humor is certainly derived from an uncommon place. Sociology would dictate that his experiences in life have influenced him to create the movies he has. His dyslexia generating trouble in school would steer him in a general direction of travel; traditionally disappointment and defeat. From there he found drug use and more failure in the conservative world. However, artistic vision is fortunately not judged or accredited by a clear and certain definition. It is a blessing that these individuals are given the chance to adhere to their potential so freely. His influences are uncertain, but one could rationalize that drug use was not too far away. Again, human experience and history are very redundant in nature. Macabre humor is labeled as a genre of comedy dealing with the more gruesome or deathlike environment. Ritchie has quickly realized his talent to convey this in his films and found astonishing success. His work in Snatch, led a revolution of this artistic vision of comedy. Not all audiences agree with this sort of absurdity and some even cringe at the thought of such perversion. However, in America it has found a home and a series of unlikely success. It seems that Mister Ritchie has found a home and an abundance of viewers to bring about a large monetary gain here in the U.S.

Works Cited

"Guy Ritchie - Biography." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005363/bio>.

Chiarella, Tom. "Guy Ritchie Interview on Madonna, Divorce, Sherlock Holmes, and Life - Esquire." Beautiful Women, Men's Fashion, Best Music, Drink Recipes - Esquire.com. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.esquire.com/features/guy-ritchie-interview-1109>.

And the award goes to........

Like many others in his profession Guy Ritchie has attained a vast collection of awards and nominations over the years. Out of this collection the most recognizable achievement is his MTV Movie award for Best New Filmmaker in 1999. He won this after making Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998. His follow up movie, Snatch made in 2000, also resulted in numerous awards, however, the majority of nominations and awards came from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Snatch, landed Ritchie a Best British Director award from Empire Awards, UK and a Golden Hitchcock nomination from the Dinard British Film Festival. There is no doubt that many of these awards require years of politics and making a name for one’s self. The fact that Ritchie came from out of nowhere to direct these blockbusters at the beginning of his career is phenomenal. Continuing onto his masterpiece, Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downy Jr., Ritchie has not been noted for any awards as of yet. Nevertheless, this film and its counterparts will be Ritchie’s masterpiece. It may be a hasty contingent of my own perception, but the film is nonetheless spectacular. The other two films cannot quite be compared with this movie because it again brings originality to the playing field. This film is in its own kind, the best ever made. It dabs at the macabre humor that Brit’s love to dabble in, but stays focused on entertaining the American culture. It is because of this that his other films cannot compare and are going to be pushed aside as this new generation of Ritchie films play themselves out.

Works cited:

"Sherlock Holmes Awards." Movie Tickets & Theater Showtimes - Fandango. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.fandango.com/sherlockholmes_v392042/awards>.


"Guy Ritchie - Awards." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005363/awards>.

Biography

Guy Ritchie was born on the tenth of September 1968 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. His parents, John and Amber Ritchie birthed only one other child, Ritchie’s Sister Tabitha. Because of his dyslexia, Ritchie found trouble in school. He dropped out of Stanbridge Earls School at the age of fifteen and later found himself expelled from Sibford School for drug use. Despite his early setbacks in life he found his calling as a director/filmmaker. His unique style of storytelling has brought about such films as Lock, Stock and Two smoking barrels, Snatch and the recent blockbuster Sherlock Holmes. After marrying Madonna in 2000, Ritchie found interest, but not as much success, in directing music videos. Madonna and Ritchie bore a child, Rocco John, and also adopted a Malawain boy, David Banda, in 2006. For those of us that do not know what a Malawain boy is, it is someone who hails from Malawi, a country in Southwest Africa. Sadly, the couple announced their divorce after eight years of marriage in 2008. Ritchie, following his passion, is still making films continuing with the success of the Holmes series. They have announced that there is a sequel in the making starring the ever so ostentatious Robert Downy Jr. Surely, Ritchie’s films will continue to progress and wow audiences everywhere.

Works cited:

"Guy Ritchie - Biography." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005363/bio>.

"Guy Ritchie Biography." Biography.com. Web. 16 Apr. 2010. <http://www.biography.com/articles/Guy-Ritchie-201267>.