On January 24, the American comedy Holmes & Watson is released in Russia: a film parody of the adventures of famous literary characters - a private detective Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. John Watson.
Ethan Cohen, the creator of the comedy “Krespey!” 2014, acted as the director of the film (not to be confused with the famous director, author of the “Big Lebovsky” and “Old Men”, Ethan Cohen). The lead roles are performed by Will Ferrell and John Riley, who have already worked in tandem on several films.
Despite the fact that the plot of the picture is inspired by the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle, it is far from the original texts both in the essence of the investigation and in the question of the positioning of the characters.
Holmes and Watson Cohen - extremely mediocre characters who miraculously manage to avoid trouble and unravel complex cases. And if Holmes is still able to think logically, then Watson is completely devoid of this ability - he is assigned the role of a fool, against the background of which the near detective looks like a great analyst.
In the story, Sherlock Holmes (Will Ferrell) prevents the imprisonment of a man impersonating Dr. Moriarty (Rafe Fiennes). The detective claims that the real Moriarty has escaped to America, and an impostor, a terminally ill onanism, is ready to go to prison instead. Fictitious doctors are released, a real villain must be located thousands of miles from London - but the series of crimes does not stop. Moreover, someone whose criminal handwriting is very similar to Moriarty’s handwriting threatens to kill the queen. Holmes and Watson (John Riley) begin a new investigation, and a progressive female doctor from the United States (Rebecca Hall) and her patient who imagines herself a cat (Lauren Lapus) help them in this.
- Frame from the movie "Holmes & Watson"
- © kinopoisk.ru
In addition to these heroes, several other people are involved in the film, which are important for the development of the plot. This is Inspector Lestrade (Rob Bridon), who looks like the only sane person surrounded by Holmes, brother of Sherlock Mycroft (Hugh Laurie) and probably nymphomaniac housekeeper Mrs. Hudson (Kelly Macdonald) with a retinue of famous lovers, among whom, for example, enters writer Mark Twain.
"Waste of time"
This free interpretation of Conan Doyle's stories was not liked by Western viewers and film critics (the film premiered in the United States on December 25, 2018). However, if you believe the reviews, not because of the attempt to create an alternative universe of Sherlock Holmes, but for the embodiment of the mediocre conceived.
The picture rating on IMDb at the time of publication of the note was only 3.4 points, while more than 400 reviews were published on the tape. Most users of the resource rated "Holmes and Watson" at 1 point out of 10. Some - for want of a lower score.
"I would like to be able to put him" 0 ", - so entitled one of the user reviews. Further, the author explains his position: "Perhaps this is the worst film of those that I have seen."
“I wish I could rate this movie at 0/10. Waste of time. I tried to laugh, but I simply forced myself to do it in the hope that everything would work out ”, another reviewer complains.
Many viewers say that they either left the cinema directly during the session, or it cost them incredible efforts to see it through to the end of the show. One film fan admits that he stayed in the hall only for an unusually comfortable chair.
“I always thought that giving birth was the most painful thing that could happen to me. But I was wrong. Five minutes of watching this movie is much more painful, ”writes another IMDb user.
- Frame from the movie "Holmes & Watson"
- © kinopoisk.ru
According to the audience, the main drawbacks of the picture lie in the script: the plot is not interesting, the actions of the heroes are not motivated, the jokes are extremely primitive.
American writer and film critic Alonso Durald in his article for The Wrap suggests that Ethan Cohen, who in addition to the duties of a director, took over the work of the screenwriter, used the first draft version of the script.
“Or did Cohen not worry that everything he had written was not at all ridiculous, because the stars Will Ferrell and John Riley would somehow transform this painful material just by appearing on the set?”, Durald wonders.
The critic emphasizes that only three people can praise the work done on the film: Rebecca Hall, whose heroine is the only one in the audience, is looking like a laugh, costume artist and marketing specialist Sony, who decided not to invite reporters for a preview - only thanks To this, critics did not have time to add the film to the lists of the worst pictures of the year, and he collected some money at the box office.
“My dear amateur detectives, pay attention to the seasoning of anachronisms - selfie! Paid views! Hats with political slogans! - as well as a cheap farce in the style of “if necessary, smash someone in the head” with virtually no jokes, ”says David Fear in a review for Rolling Stone. He also writes that Cohen’s painting is “painfully flat” and can hardly be called a comedy.
It is noteworthy that in the Russian hire “Holmes & Watson” received a restriction of 16+ - probably due to the abundance of jokes with sexual connotations. Also, the picture is rich in black humor - so, for example, the heroes wake up to each other a romantic interest during the preparation of the corpse smeared in the cake. Purification of the body from the cake is a reference to the scene with clay and potter's wheel in the "Ghost" of 1990.
Immediately after the release, the movie's rating on Rotten Tomatoes was 0% fresh. However, in a few weeks he managed to rise to 10%: 7 out of 69 critics still gave the picture positive ratings.
Film critic David Edelstein became one of the experts who defended the tape.
“It worries me that in our great struggle against lies and ignorance in all their manifestations, we have forgotten how valuable it is sometimes to just hang around a fool. Holmes & Watson doesn’t do any harm to your brain cells, it just gives them a couple of hours to relax and recover, ”he writes in a Vulture review.