I'm a fan of Sherlock Holmes. I've read every story written by A. Conan Doyle, and as a kid, would look up each word I didn't understand in the dictionary until I had reread the stories over and over again. I bought the .99 Kindle collection that has all of them so I can read them again. I've watched movies like The Zero Effect, which place someone with Sherlock Holmes's sensibilities and abilities in modern society. As someone who is relatively intuitive and deductive, I see Sherlock Holmes as one of my heroes. So it was with some trepidation that I sat down in a crowded theater at 7 PM on Christmas to watch the latest film incarnation of Baker Street's finest.

And I thoroughly enjoyed it. Robert Downey Jr.'s Holmes feels right. Jude Law's Watson may be a bit burlier and more assertive than the stories led on, but they were written by Watson himself, so you can surmise that maybe he practiced some humility and self-editing. The mystery was a good one, the action was excellent yet believable (I'm not an expert on the details of the era, so I can't argue whether or not there were anachronisms. I don't care.), and when they showed Holmes's deductive skills at work, I found myself laughing giddily.

It's smart, but it's broad enough for the general audience. It's funny, and I can forgive the few base jokes that do jar you out of the movie. It's exciting, and I never felt bored for a second. This movie is definitely one of my favorites for the year – how wonderful, between Sherlock Holmes and Avatar, to have two such amazing films to finish off the last decade!

I give it 4 and a half out of five pinches of snuff.