‘Holmes and Watson’ | Film Review

Remember when Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly were the perfect comedy duo when they were in Talladega Nights and Step Brothers? Those were some good ol’ funny comedies that fans really enjoyed, including myself. Holmes and Watson is the third time they worked together in what should be a classic PG-13 spoof, but end up in a much worse scenario.

What’s the Story: In this humorous take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic characters, Detective Sherlock Holmes (Ferrell) and Dr. John Watson (Reilly) join forces to investigate a mysterious murder at Buckingham Palace. It seems like an open-and-shut case as all signs point to Professor James Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes), the criminal mastermind and longtime nemesis of the crime-solving duo.

The idea of having a comedic take on Sherlock Holmes didn’t sound like a terrible idea at first. But what I didn’t know is that this was in development for ten years with Sasha Baron Cohen to star alongside Ferrell. And I’ve been hearing about this for a long time and I was curious to know if it was still coming on. Well, Sony didn’t screen this for critics before its Christmas Day release, and it doesn’t have a strong rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Why? Very simple, Holmes and Watson is one of the worst movies that I had to sit through this year.

Here’s the thing: I believe Ferrell and Reilly had always had the best relationship with each other, and that’s mainly why this had a chance to be entertaining. Honest truth, the chemistry wasn’t there, and that’s very bad. Ferrell is a comedic genius for as long as I can remember. And this just proves my point that Ferrell hasn’t made a good comedy in the past five years. From Get Hard to Daddy’s Home 2, it’s just becoming embarrassing for him. Him playing the famous fictional detective was a big misstep when he using a goofy British accent and an unbearable portrayal of Holmes. Reilly is still doing fine on his own. It just hurts me to see them work off this trit plot, and his Watson was also made to be an idiot.

Not only them, but Fiennes, Rebecca Hall, Lauren Lapkus, Kelly Macdonald, and well as many others are waste with what they’re working it.

The story? There’s no point of trying to explain why the story doesn’t work when it’s a comedic take on Sherlock Holmes. Most takes on the famous duo are quite interesting, depending on how it’s being treated. Etan Cohen’s script and direction is very dull and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you start thinking about it. Even his direction just feels lazy and has no effort whatsoever.

The humor is the kind that made me almost walk out during the middle of the movie. And if you think the trailer was saving the best jokes, you’re wrong. Every single joke that’s planned out is predictable and borderline eye-rolling. It’s like Cohen was like, “You know what would be funny? Things that are popular today… and put it in the Sherlock time period.” These.Aren’t.Clever. And the results are like a kick in the balls. There’s even Trump jokes that are too on the noise. Not even a small chuckle, but a quick smirk. Although that’s not enough to give this a barely passing grade.

This may also be the first time where I actually noticed bad voice dubbing for certain characters, and I was shocked to see how bad it was. And did I mention the random musical number that came out of nowhere? I thought I had a stroke.

As I was wondering inside my brain while this 90-minute crap fest was playing, how come they didn’t they get Adam McKay, who’s a co-producer, to helm this? He worked with these actors before with better results, so why couldn’t his skills fit to make this a funny comedy. Because he was off writing and directing a much better movie called Vice.

Paying to see Holmes and Watson is one of the biggest regrets I put on myself while going to the movies. This is one of those comedies that will make its audience dumber. But some people in my audience laughed and good for them, I guess? It isn’t shocking that people walked out during it. One of the things I hate is when a movie isn’t funny with talented people behind it. Fail. This is a case that can’t be solved when it’s ten years too late.

Holmes and Watson is a flat-out tasteless comedy that’s painfully unfunny, dull and just a waste of time and talent involved.

Grade: F