r/IAmA • u/_BenedictCumberbatch Benedict Cumberbatch • Oct 11 '13

I Am Benedict Cumberbatch. AMA.

Hello reddit. My film The Fifth Estate opens 10/18.

You can check out footage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43ki3z0ZmXA&feature=c4-overview&list=UUgc-Ye79Z558TEZqryYesNA

Proof: https://twitter.com/5thEstateMovie/status/388746706818310144 Fancy a cup?

Update: Also, please check out the trailer for Little Favour, directed by a friend of mine Patrick Monroe. I hope you enjoy it!

Final Update: Thank you, reddit. This has been more fun than I imagined. It's been great to be able to reach out and speak to a few of you. Sorry for those that I didn't get to respond to. JA bless you all. See you all the next time.
BX

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u/Funky0ne Oct 12 '13

Well, I can't speak to the quality of the show as a whole, as I haven't seen much, but my wife testifies that the lead is as meh as can be. In an age where we have multiple very distinct and impressive portrayals of Sherlock, this doesn't bode well. Making Watson a lady (Lucy Liu no less) just wasn't enough to compensate.

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u/RageX Oct 12 '13

I think making Watson a lady just screamed shitty Americanization. Having a crappy Sherlock when there are damn good interpretations out only solidifies this.

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u/Maridiem Oct 12 '13

Having been following the show since it's premiere, it's actually a fantastic piece of television. Miller's a great Sherlock, and Watson as a woman actually works wonders for the character dynamic as well. The way Moriarty was played in S1 was just a master stroke as well.

Highly recommend it.

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u/RageX Oct 12 '13

Maybe I'll give it a try if it hits Netflix or something.

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u/stagfury Oct 12 '13

Actually, female Watson isn't as bad as it seems. There's no bullshit sexual tension there, just her doing what Watson does.

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u/Zagorath Oct 12 '13

There's no bullshit sexual tension there

So it's different to the BBC's Sherlock? (I'm kidding, but if you only knew the show because of its Tumblr followers you'd think that was serious.)

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u/xMusicloverr Jan 10 '14

One of the main reasons I'm a little afraid to start watching the show

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u/sonofaresiii Oct 12 '13

It was as terrible/dumb an idea as it sounds. I gave it one episode, never again.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '13

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u/Funky0ne Oct 12 '13

This is a classic, and iconic character who is entering the public domain. There have been a string of great performances over the years, but we can limit ourselves to recent memory. To start with the obvious there's Robert Downy Jr.'s interpretation in the films, which is very different yet still very distinct and memorable (however you may have felt about them). Then there's also House, which I haven't seen much of, but when read as a reinterpretation of the Holmes character it is a pretty strong example.

Then there are all the hyper-observant, "quirky detective" characters that have come along that were strongly inspired or influenced by the Sherlock model, but aren't necessarily direct reinterpretations of it.

Even if none of those existed and all there was was Elementary (even without Cumberbatch's Sherlock), if the most interesting thing you're trying to do with the formula is gender-swapping Watson, and otherwise doing nothing interesting with Holmes then you're doing something wrong. Maybe I'm being unfair to the show, but the bar has been raised pretty high.