Holmes & Watson

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Rebecca Hall, Rob Brydon, Kelly Macdonald, Ralph Fiennes, Lauren Lapkus, Pam Ferris, Noah Jupe, Billy Zane, Steve Coogan
Directed by: Etan Cohen
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Sherlock Holmes (Will Ferrell) and Dr. Watson (John C. Reilly) team up to solve a mystery that involves Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes).

Review:

Tim: I'm not sure I would go so far as to call Holmes & Watson an epic misfire, but a lot went wrong with this movie. I can see the thinking behind casting Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as Holmes and Watson. It's an unexpected move, but it does allow them to bring their unique brand of human to a period piece. A Sherlock Holmes movie as a dumb, slapstick comedy feels somewhat unique. Unfortunately, it's also a pretty bad idea. We've had so many Holmes adaptations in recent years. Robert Downey Jr. did his thing, the BBC has the Benedict Cumberbatch version and there's been several adaptations on American television. There's absolutely no need for another version. We've been on Sherlock Holmes overload and a moronic comedy version doesn't feel like a breath of fresh air- it feels like a further derivative. We didn't need this movie and the film never does enough to justify its existence.

All that is bad enough, but the real kicker is that this film is really bad, outside of the questionable use of the source material. The film makes so little sense and just isn't funny. The story feels so flimsy and oftentimes pointless. I didn't care about this version of the characters or any of the supporting characters, either. The story felt irrelevant, as it was just derivative of the many other Sherlock Holmes' stories we've seen. It had nothing new or especially interesting to say. I was quite surprised by how unfunny the movie was, although Ferrell has made quite a few unfunny comedies in recent years. I rarely laughed at any of the juvenile jokes. I remember a small chuckle at the scenes where one or both of the main characters were stifling vomit. That was probably the hallmark humor of the film. There was one pretty funny scene involving the queen in Holmes' lodging. It made no logical sense and was resolved nonsensically, but it was kind of funny to watch. That's not high praise for a comedy- the best moments involve physical damage being done to a presumed corpse and two characters trying not to throw up. I'm physically shaking my head reading this right now. This is the kind of film that puts a lot of its humor eggs in the "eating an onion like an apple" bucket. It's a major failure.

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly have always had solid chemistry together. I guess that helps the movie some. Ferrell's shtick is feeling quite old at this point. Reilly comes off looking a little better, but not a whole lot. I was pretty stunned that Ralph Fiennes agreed to his small supporting role. It was utterly pointless and he doesn't do anything substantial. He doesn't even have a great scene to make up for the rest. He never should have done this film. Rebecca Hall was fine, but they forgot to give her character anything interesting to do. I really felt great disappointment that her talent was wasted. I'm not sure what Lauren Lapkus was supposed to be doing in the film, but her character was awful and unfunny. Her character felt like a half baked attempt.

I could go on, but Holmes & Watson is just another stupid, poorly made comedy that didn't try especially hard. It was a terrible idea from the start and yet the final product still manages to miss the already lowered expectations placed upon it. This is easily one of the worst movies of 2018.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 4



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