Sherlock Holmes (2009)

I have included Sherlock Holmes (2009), the one starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, to my film guide for women. It also stars Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler and Kelly Reilly as Mary Morstan. Mrs. Hudson is played by Geraldine James. Given the presence of three women in Holmes and Watson's lives it was reasonable to hope that two of them might share a scene and say something to each other. They do not. No two women ever speak in this Guy Ritchie directed movie that runs just over two hours. So it fails the Bechdel test--a test that serves as an indicator of the active presence of women in movies--like so many other feature films. If it does not strike you as odd that no two women ever speak in a two-hour movie ask yourself this: how many movies can you name in which no two men ever speak?

© 2018 Alline Cormier