Holmes and Watson

Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Rebecca Hall, Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Ralph Fiennes, Kelly Macdonald

Director: Etan Cohen

Based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

After a brief opening that shows Sherlock Holmes being bullied into bottling up any human emotion and his meeting John Watson, we find adult Holmes (Will Ferrell) and Watson (John C Reilly) about to make a grand entrance at the trial of their greatest nemesis Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes). Sherlock holds the key to Moriarty’s guilt but much to the chagrin of Inspector Lestrade (Rob Brydon), instead sets him free. Shortly after, the life of Queen Victoria (Pam Ferris) is threatened by Moriarty. Sherlock and Watson, along with the American Doctor Grace Hart (Rebecca Hall), must put a stop Moriarty’s plan before it is too late. By all means, this should have been a lot more successful than it was. Ferrell and Reilly have proven to be a reliable onscreen duo thanks to Talladega Nights and Step Brothers so their lampooning of such a beloved character should have been a slam dunk. Unfortunately, there aren’t many laughs or fun to be had. The script, if there even was much of one to begin with, just simply isn’t that funny. Ferrell and Reilly seem to have been left to their own devices when it comes to many of the jokes. They can be funny but there had to be funnier takes or jokes than the ones selected, many of which center around shots at Guy Ritchie’s films, Sherlock's ineptitude, and a weird bit where Lauren Lapkus plays a woman who thinks she is a cat. The bits that are funny, at least to me, were the meta bits where Watson tries to get a “self photo” with the Queen and when Watson sends Grace a drunk telegram. If you hadn’t noticed a theme, Reilly gets the best gags, the funniest of which is a recreation of a classic scene from Ghost, set at a mortuary. It’s also a shame that a movie featuring both Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon can’t figure out an excuse to get the two brilliant comedians in a scene together. Ralph Fiennes (who maybe was on set for a day) and Rebecca Hall were on hand to collect paychecks, the amount of which I hope was substantial. Ferrell, and to a lesser extent Reilly, have done better in the past and could have done better here. There is a good comedy out there making fun of Sherlock Holmes. This just isn’t it.