Holmes & Watson

This shockingly misguided assault of repetitive bad slapstick and sexual innuendo would be an almost complete disaster if not for the two leads' chemistry and the appealing period design. It probably seemed like a good idea to re-team Ferrell and Reilly for Holmes & Watson, given that they worked so well together in Talladega Nights, Step Brothers, and several Funny or Die videos, but a few things go fatally wrong here. Primarily, the whole concept overlooks the fact that Ferrell's humor works best when he plays childish/childlike characters; the intelligent, unemotional Holmes is precisely the opposite.

Plus, writer/director Etan Cohen (Get Hard) replaces the wonderfully weird, verbal, behavioral humor that Ferrell and Reilly specialize in with the most basic, broadest slapstick imaginable -- it's like something you'd expect from a Farrelly Brothers comedy. Jokes based on bashing characters in the face/poisoning them fall flat and then they are unwisely repeated, as if poking and prodding us into laughing. Even verbal jokes seem to be trying a little too hard. But a few small giggles pop up once in a long while, and a surprisingly fun musical number that surfaces at the 11th hour at least ends things with a small measure of goodwill that's otherwise missing.