Holmes and Watson is yet another signifier that I am no longer a young person. There was a time where whenever Will Ferrell showed up, laughter was going to happen. Most people have at least one film of his that proudly sits at or near the top of the funniest films they’ve ever seen. Comedy shelf lives are finite, and it’s been almost a decade since Ferrell has been atop the comedy universe; that being said, you can count on Ferrell bringing at least a little something to the table. Not so with this movie. Holmes and Watson reminds me of a recent years Adam Sandler movie, after Sandler started having kids and only surrounding himself with yes men. I never thought I’d see the day where Will Ferrell didn’t make me laugh at least a little, but alas, here we are, and what a dreary day it is.
Ferrell plays 221b Baker Street’s most famous resident, Sherlock Holmes, with puppy dog Reilly playing Dr. Watson. In this Sherlock Holmes universe, Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes), Holmes’s greatest adversary, has fled to America. However, an impersonator has threatened the life of the Queen (Pam Ferris), forcing her majesty to bypass actual British law enforcement Inspector Lestrade (Rob Brydon) in favor of Sherlock. Along the way, the two meet Dr. Grace Hart (Rebecca Hall) and her friend(?) Millie (Lauren Lapkus) who help with the case.
Funny people past their prime are so predictable. When you surround yourself with the same smaller, insular group of people, you forget that you don’t think like the outside world anymore. So the inside jokes that funnel your friendships become what you put onscreen. I’m guessing Reilly and Ferrell, were chatting and said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we tried to do a movie in British accents? That would be so funny!” Accents and “funny” costumes usually populate past-their-prime comedies, usually because the writer thinks the accent and costumes are so funny, you don’t actually have to write any jokes. Overall, Holmes and Watson also has hallmarks of what made Ferrell and Reilly funny in the first place, but that type of humor simply isn’t funny anymore, especially here. Watching Sherlock Holmes puzzled that a woman is a doctor isn’t funny the first time, so why not repeat it 5 or 6 times, maybe it’s funny then! Wait, no, it’s not funnier, and now it’s meaner. It’s as if the movie was written as all set ups with no punch lines, save for one stellar cameo and one terrific pun.
I’d say even worse than the fact that Holmes and Watson isn’t funny, is that the movie has ZERO respect for the characters being used. Sherlock Holmes is a beloved literary figure He’s basically a superhero whose superpowers are observation and deduction. The ONE thing you need to get right about Sherlock is that he is the smartest person in the room. However, because Ferrell is known for playing a dumb bombastic guy, the movie feels obliged to add a couple scenes where that happens. There’s a VERY long sequence where Holmes and Watson think the Queen is dead, only for the punch line to be the Queen is perfectly fine. So neither the smartest person on the planet or a professional doctor couldn’t figure that one out? The fact that there are multiple scenes like this one means Ferrell only used Sherlock and Watson to get people to the theater, using the power of the characters instead of just inventing new ones, thus bastardizing a beloved figure while torpedoing whatever project he wants to make next.
At least Holmes and Watson is mercifully short. The movie is a facade of a Will Ferrell comedy, containing similar beats and sequences in a Ferrell movie without any of the trademark wit and laughter. Holmes and Watson’s facade is so complete, it is directed by a Coen, but when you look closely, not one of the Coen brothers. An impostor Coen brother!