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Dec 25, 2018 · 10% Tomatometer 81 Reviews 25% Audience Score 2,500+ Ratings Detective Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson join forces to investigate a mysterious murder at Buckingham Palace. It seems like an ...
Dec 26, 2018 · I am not going to flat-out say that “Holmes & Watson,” the latest big screen vehicle for the character that finds him being played by Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as his aide, Dr. John Watson, is so bad that it could bring his seemingly endless streak of movie appearances to a definitive halt.
- Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly reunite for a repetitive, unfunny, Victorian version of Talladega Nights.
- Worst Reviewed Movies of 2018
- Verdict
By William Bibbiani
Updated: Apr 21, 2020 3:38 am
Posted: Dec 26, 2018 11:42 pm
There is a scene in Etan Cohen’s Holmes & Watson where Sherlock Holmes, played by Will Ferrell, puts on a bad fake mustache and somehow fools Dr. Watson, played by John C. Reilly, into thinking he’s a completely different person. It’s not a great joke, but it’s illuminating. The filmmakers also seem to think that by slapping on a ramshackle disguise they can trick audiences into thinking Holmes & Watson isn’t just a pale imitation of Talladega Nights and Step Brothers.
But when Step Brothers and Talladega Nights would whiff a joke, both movies quickly moved on to a better one. Holmes & Watson is a collection of limp comic set pieces and repeated riffs on the same three gags: Joke A. The 21st century is different from the Victorian era; Joke B. Holmes isn’t as smart as he thinks he is; and Joke C. Blunt force trauma to the face.
Holmes & Watson is a reunion, of sorts, for Ferrell and Reilly. The duo starred in the two aforementioned beloved comedies in the 2000s and haven’t shared a title card since (although they have done a few cameos). Theirs was an unusual but amusing comedy dynamic, in which both actors played total buffoons, trying to out-buffoon each other. When it worked it was gut-bustingly funny, and when it failed at least it looked like the actors were having fun.
Whether Holmes is right, the movie takes its sweet time saying. Indeed, it’s hard to tell whether Holmes & Watson thinks he’s a brilliant weirdo or an overrated egomaniac. Sometimes Ferrell’s Holmes makes brilliant deductions and other times he’s so overwhelmingly obtuse you start to wonder if it’s some kind of triple-fake out, and he’s only acting dumb to hide the genius that he put on a totally separate layer of dumb to hide in the first place. But no, it’s merely inconsistent; he’s an oaf if the filmmakers think it’s funny and he’s a mastermind when they think that would be funnier. And since that makes it hard to catch your bearings and tell when the stupidity or genius is supposed to be unexpected, and therefore actually make you laugh, it’s hard to be amused.
Holmes’s investigations lead him to drunken sidequests, including the invention of the first drunk text (or rather, “intoxigram”), and into the arms of a pair of American women: Dr. Grace Hart (Rebecca Hall), whom neither Holmes nor Watson can believe is a real doctor, because she’s not a man, and her test subject Millie (Lauren Lapkus), who was raised by stray cats.
Holmes and Watson solve puzzles and get in fights and make pointed remarks to Grace and Millie about how America is a nation of gun-lovers, while Grace and Millie reminds them that America founded a whole democracy to prevent “trumped up charlatans” from running the country (rimshot). Naturally, their bromance is tested and Holmes learns a valuable lesson, but it’s not like anyone’s here for the storyline. We’re here for Ferrell and Reilly.
And again, they’re back to the same old schtick. Holmes & Watson plays like a strange “premake” of Talladega Nights, taking the same basic comedy dynamic and sending it into the past for a change of clothes, a change of location, and the same three jokes, told over and over again. If that's all your looking for, it's right here, but we can't help but feel that we -- and everyone in the cast -- deserved better.
It's nice to see Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly back together again, but they deserve better material than Holmes & Watson. The lazy gags, wasted supporting cast and unfocused writing make the film an unfunny chore, which evokes but doesn't come close to their earlier comedic outings.
- William Bibbiani
Dec 25, 2018 · Directed by Etan Cohen. Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Mystery. PG-13. 1h 29m. Find Tickets. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate...
- Etan Cohen
Dec 25, 2018 · Puerile, imbecilic and imbued with the kind of casual 1970s sitcom homophobia that reads all male friendships as somehow suspect, this slack-jawed grossout comedy represents the nadir of Conan Doyle adaptations. Read More.
- (23)
- Etan Cohen
- PG-13
- Will Ferrell
Bad slapstick and innuendo ruin good-natured buddy comedy. Read Common Sense Media's Holmes & Watson review, age rating, and parents guide.
