Holmes and Watson Review
PG-13: Crude sexual material, some violence, language and drug references
Sony, Columbia Pictures, Mimran Schur Pictures, Mosaic Media Group, Gary Sanchez Productions
1 Hr and 31 Minutes
Writer/Dir: Etan Cohen
Cast: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Hugh Laurie, Ralph Fiennes, Rebecca Hall, Rob Brydon, Steve Coogan, Kelly Macdonald, Pam Ferris, Lauren Lapkus
The game is afoot, or “a going,” as Holmes proclaims, when a dead body is discovered in Holmes’ birthday cake at Buckingham Palace. It seems the perpetrator is their longtime nemesis, criminal mastermind Professor James Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes), but the famed sleuth has doubts. As their investigation uncovers one twist after another, Holmes and Watson face the greatest threat of their partnership. The master sleuth and his dependable partner must remain united to find the killer, save the Queen, and restore the reputation of the world’s greatest crime-solving duo – if the case doesn’t tear them apart first.
If there is anything positive to compliment “Holmes and Watson” for, it’s definitely this: Reilly and Ferrell still have a bit of chemistry. The two are an impeccable pair for a reason and because of their dynamic, there are some laughs to be found here. There are several laugh-out-loud moments that catch you off guard, but most are due to the punchline rather than the filmmaking effort leading up to it.
There are so many Adam Sandler films where he’s paired up with Kevin James and they would give James such a beautiful love interest that you have to suspend your disbelief over. Because of Reilly being such a versatile actor, and here a rather decent character, I didn’t have to suspend it that much. His love interest is an American doctor played by Rebecca Hall and honestly... I bought that. It wasn’t too far-fetched for me to believe it, and the little romance they share is genuinely cute.
2018 has not been a good year for films based on Sherlock Holmes. I would’ve preferred another Guy Ritchie Holmes film (okay, not really) but, between “Sherlock Gnomes” and “Holmes and Watson”, it’s been a humiliating time for the character. Just like “Sherlock Gnomes”, there is no need for “Holmes and Watson” to exist.
“Holmes and Watson” is the equivalent of seeing two best friends reunite at a high school reunion and after a while you realize they’re better off without each other as their dynamic peaked in high school. I love how the film at times inadvertently delivers commentary on John C. Reilly’s career where people often desire Watson for more than working with Holmes (Ferrell) because this year, Reilly is thriving with his solo career. With “The Sisters Brothers”, “Ralph Breaks the Internet”, and “Stan & Ollie”, Reilly has been doing so good… BUT HE SOMEHOW ENDS UP IN AN UNFUNNY COMEDY WITH WILL FERRELL!
I’m not going to put the blame on either of the two leads, for they try so desperately to make this film work, but the reason why I feel like it’s such a fail is because of the ultimate lack of effort put into both the script and the production. For this being a comedy that relies on slapstick and innuendos a majority of the jokes don’t land because of Etan Cohen’s incoherent screenplay. There’s a script present, but so often can you witness the constant ad libbing between the leads and most of the material they come up with is just not funny. Often times, whenever the film is just using basic sitcom-level humor, there will be endless referential humor about modern times but the joke is, it’s the early 1900s, so it’s funny! There are jokes that reference selfie sticks, play on words with pay per view, and the one that is the most pretentious is where they try to make a statement on how corrupt our modern day politics are and thinks it’s so smart by doing so. While the film thinks that it’s being clever by doing this while being a period piece, not only does it come off as pretentious, but it makes the humor feel relatively dated! And for the sequences of slapstick, the majority of them are both filmed and choreographed so poorly that you can tell how unfinished the entire project is. The movie would often deviate from its narrative for the leads to just play around and riff off each other for the hell of it.
The movie is barely 90 minutes long and there’s only about 75 minutes of material and the other 15 goes to vignettes at Holmes’ headquarters that serve no purpose to the plot and go on forever. Shit, most of the time during those vignettes, it doesn’t even seem like Reilly and Ferrell are present in the same shot when they’re delivering dialogue to each other. Cohen relies on either close-ups or over the shoulder shots, and the backgrounds at the headquarters are so obviously the work of green screen. If you can’t be cohesive with your humor at least be authentic to your settings. There are several moments where the film satirizes the inventive visuals of the Guy Ritchie “Sherlock Holmes” films for the sake of a visual gag, but even those don’t work. Because of the poor shot composition, the comedic timing of the jokes are thrown off.
While watching this movie, every once in a while some better alternative film released in 2018 would appear in my conscious and I wished I was watching that other film instead of the present one. Steve Coogan makes a cameo in the film and in my head I wished to rather be watching “Stan and Ollie”, for it opens this week in America. The film is produced by Ferrell and Adam McKay, which reminds me that “Vice”, which is from the same production company, OPENS TODAY AS WELL and I consider it a better alternative. The film has Kelly Macdonald and they use an “I don’t understand what she’s saying” joke because of her Scottish accent which was present in “Ralph Breaks the Internet” where she reprised her role as Merida. Speaking of, “Ralph” had a random musical number with music by Alan Menken. THERE IS AN ALAN MENKEN SONG HERE AND IT DOESN’T WORK! It just reminds me of “Ralph” and also the short lived ABC series “Galavant”. For god's sake, there is a cowboy part in the end which reminded me of “The Sisters Brothers” which, while paired with Joaquin Phoenix, is the best performance Reilly delivered this year.
There are so many better films that are either out in theaters now or accessible to watch than this. Shit, just rewatch “Step Brothers” or “Talladega Nights” because at least those films had a plot and more memorable humor. There’s nothing that is memorable about this half-assed film at all. I’ll do you better, just go see “The Favourite” which is an amazing period piece comedy that is funny, consistent with its humor, has a great narrative, and is perfect with its physical comedy.
We knew this was going to suck, but it's not the worst thing out. You could do worse this holiday season. You could’ve seen “Welcome to Marwen”.
“Holmes and Watson” may not be the worst fare to offer, for the leads’ chemistry at times provides funny moments, but the incoherent filmmaking and unfunny script shows Etan Cohen’s cluelessness when it comes to comedy.
John C. Reilly, you deserve better. So much better.
Rating: 1.5/5 | 34%
Super Scene: Dream
