SHERLOCK HOLMES (Will Ferrell) and WATSON (John C. Reilly) in Columbia Pictures' HOLMES AND WATSON.
Holmes & Watson is a parody of the modern representations of Sherlock Holmes. Starring Will Ferrell as the iconic detective and John C. Reilly as his sidekick Dr. John Watson, the movie follows the duo as they attempt to prevent the assassination of the Queen of England. Instead of giving viewers an interesting mystery or a witty comedy, Holmes & Watson stagnates far too often, loses focus, and ends up being a confusing mess. For fans of movies like Step Brothers and Talladega Nights, the comedic duo of Ferrell and Reilly will undoubtedly produce a few chuckles. Unfortunately, for the rest of the general public, Holmes & Watson will be a massive disappointment.
In terms of plot, Holmes & Watson is paper thin. The beginning of the movie shows us Sherlock Holmes’ early life at school, where he learns that having emotion and feelings will prevent him from achieving his true intellectual capacity. At school, he meets John Watson, who he quickly befriends. Fast forward a few dozen years, and the pair now regularly praised for their crime-solving abilities in England. When Sherlock and John attend a surprise birthday party for Sherlock, a murdered corpse is discovered along with a threatening note. The note indicates that the Queen of England will be murdered in four days, which sets Sherlock and John on a path to solving the mystery.
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When I sit down to watch a Sherlock Holmes movie, regardless of the tone or theme the film is trying to achieve, I expect a decent mystery. Sure, not every Sherlock Holmes tale can be a mind-bending twist through logic and deduction. However, the mystery presented in Holmes & Watson feels less of a focus and more of a background for antics to ensue. Although the majority of the movie follows the duo as they try to uncover the suspected assassin, their journey often veers into cringe-worthy sequences and comedic attempts that fall painfully flat. You’re never given enough time to care about any of the characters, as most of them are simply written as archetypes for different jokes to occur. As the viewer, you’re left with a cast of characters you don’t care about, an uninteresting and often boring mystery, and an overall huge letdown on the narrative end.
That said, even the most ridiculous and ham-fisted of storylines can work when Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly make their comedic magic happen. If you’ve ever seen Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, or any of the other films that prominently featured these two actors, you’ll know that they can work wonders together when it comes to comedy. Unfortunately, this simply isn’t true in Holmes & Watson. There are a handful of lines and sequences that managed to make me chuckle, but the mass majority of jokes come off as outdated, lowbrow, or simply unfunny. This is due in part to both the performances and the script, which constantly clash with each other.
Will Ferrell does a decent job trying to emulate the Sherlock Holmes character have come to know. This comes complete with a so-so English accent, an air of arrogance, and an over-confident attitude. Unfortunately, none of the trademark charm or wit commonly associated with the character comes through in Ferrell’s adaptation. Sherlock Holmes is often represented as a dim-witted and nearly moronic detective, who only stays afloat thanks to the intellect of John Watson. John C. Reilly does his best with the script, delivering a performance that is mostly endearing, and falls in line with the kind of character we’ve seen him play in so many other movies. Between the two leads, John C. Reilly stands out as the most effective and brings the most to his character. The performances from the supporting cast range from weak to serviceable, but the main issue is that most characters barely get any screen time at all. Dr. Grace Heart (Rebecca Hall) is an American doctor who crosses paths with Sherlock and John early on. She is accompanied by an eccentric and oddball apprentice named Millie (Lauren Lapkus), whose character boils down to little more than light comedic relief. I did appreciate Rebecca Hall’s performance as Dr. Grace Heart, but her character is sorely underused, underdeveloped, and brushed to the side. The same can be said for nearly every other supporting character.
Overall, Holmes & Watson might make you chuckle four or five times while watching. Besides that, the film offers a paper-thin plot, an uninteresting mystery, non-existent character development, and a slew of outdated and cringe-worthy jokes. In many ways, Holmes & Watson feels like a film that was rushed through production, and based off of a lazily written script that parodies films almost a decade old. It fails to provide a compelling mystery or any sort of plot to keep the viewer interested. It fails to deliver more than a handful of laughs, which is disappointing considering just how many jokes are shoehorned into the movie. At its best it’s simply bearable, but at its worst it’s an utter waste of your time. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, or find yourself compelled to view every piece of Sherlock Holmes-related material to ever exist, you should skip this one and forget that it even came out. While it’s not overtly offensive or bad enough to walk out of the theater, Holmes & Watson is simply one of the most underwhelming, unintelligent, and frankly idiotic films of the year.
Movie Rating: 1 star.
Movie Rating Guide
1 Star = Unwatchable
2 Stars = Cannot Recommend
3 Stars = Great for the Fans
4 Stars = A Solid Movie
5 Stars = Must Own (DVD/Stream Download)
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