# Is Holmes and Watson really that bad **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2018, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969 "2018-12-31T07:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/21 "2019-01-01T00:19:02Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I just watched the trailer and was saddened. > Just a couple of actors shouting or doing silly things (like shooting a gun at a bee swarm or insulting the Monarch.) Desecrating the Holmes canon wasn’t bad enough, they had to defile _The Venture Brothers_ too? ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/22 "2019-01-01T01:58:35Z")
Haven’t seen it, don’t plan to. But I wonder if a good movie ended up on the cutting room floor? ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/23 "2019-01-01T02:30:48Z")
I thought it was below average, but not terrible. Some of the anachronisms annoyed me, like seeing Queen Victoria on the Titanic. As a huge House fan, I enjoyed seeing Hugh Laurie in a cameo as Mycroft. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/24 "2019-01-01T04:34:52Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I thought it was below average, but not terrible. Some of the anachronisms annoyed me, like seeing Queen Victoria on the Titanic. As a huge House fan, I enjoyed seeing Hugh Laurie in a cameo as Mycroft. As a huge Rosemary and Thyme fan I loved seeing Pam Ferris as Queen Victoria. I know R&T won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, especially with men, but damn I loved that show. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/25 "2019-01-01T05:05:45Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > As a huge Rosemary and Thyme fan I loved seeing Pam Ferris as Queen Victoria. I know R&T won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, especially with men, but damn I loved that show. Hiring them to redo your garden is like inviting Jessica Fletcher to a family reunion. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/26 "2019-01-01T05:06:42Z")
Saw a review that eviscerated it, only to conclude that you could do worse. You know, by seeing WELCOME TO MARWEN. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/27 "2019-01-01T18:02:40Z")
Saw it last night and let me say…thank God for AMC A-List. The movie wasn’t so much a movie as it was a collection of scenes. Things just happened randomly and the bits were painfully unfunny. The only interesting part of the movie was the song everyone sung…and that’s really only because it was written by Alan Menken. BTW, the movie is so bad and test audiences hated it so much that Columbia tried to sell it to Netflix _and they turned them down_. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/28 "2019-01-01T22:31:58Z")
It apparently tested so badly with test audiences that Netflix passed on it. That means two things: Sony knew it wasn’t good for mass appeal, since they tried to foist it off on Netflix. And, two, Netflix didn’t think it was good even for those who like that kind of movie. And they can handle Adam Sandler movies. I was actually intrigued by the concept, and the trailer didn’t completely sink it for me. But this news definitely did. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/29 "2019-01-01T23:13:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The movie isn’t “so bad it is good!”-It is “I’ve dropped off twice already and I’m done waiting for the movie to kick in so I’m walking” bad. [The New York Times concurs.](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/30/movies/holmes-watson-so-bad-its-good.html) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/30 "2019-01-01T23:25:28Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > This is probably the one sentence ever posted on the dope on which I most vehemently disagree. Where’s that darned “like” button? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/31 "2019-01-02T17:10:03Z")
It’s currently at 8% on Rotten Tomatoes. Plus there’s this review… > **[r/MurderedByWords - This review for Holmes & Watson](https://www.reddit.com/r/MurderedByWords/comments/aabiew/this_review_for_holmes_watson/)** > > 12,309 votes and 273 comments so far on Reddit ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/32 "2019-01-02T18:51:38Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Plus there’s this review… > [Reddit - Dive into anything](https://external-preview.redd.it/kvsh-SkNAtXHLUa1M4DgtuIuvRaeh0S4qJTHdIfPR0k.jpg?auto=webp&0576066c) “Error 403 forbidden”? Dang, that’s harsh. But I have to agree with them that “Details: cache-ewr18146-EWR 1546454899 1990287821”, even if I’d personally have used less inflammatory language. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/33 "2019-01-02T21:09:04Z")
Varnish Cache Server is a brutal critic. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/34 "2019-01-02T23:34:12Z")
I liked them in step Brothers, a Little less in Ricky Bobby, but the trailer for this looked like shit and I knew it was going to be and skipped it. Usually in a comedy trailer you’re supposed to laugh and I didn’t laugh once. No surprises here. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/35 "2019-01-03T05:36:25Z")
I just saw it tonight. I felt I had a duty to se it. I’m on a “Bad Films” panel at Arisia in two weeks, and it’s bound to come up. Worse than I imagined it would be. The film plays out like a series of _non sequiturs_. It’s as if they wrote the script like one of those “Choose Your Own Adventures”, and they took turns writing the next scene, with each writer determined to write the others into a corner they couldn’t get out of. It’s one of the few scenarios that makes this script intelligible. They clearly had some understanding of the Holmes Canon, but either they only had a little, or else decided to subvert it all. You can’t compare it to Gene Wilder’s _The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother_ – not only did that film have a coherent plot and consistent characters, but Wilder was literarily savvy, as he’d proven with his script for _Young Frankenstein_, and he played off the Canon intelligently. This one really is awful. What’s amazing is that they had Big Bucks behind it, so it looks freakin’ awesome, and they apparently actually shot scenes at the White Tower and in other famous sites. I’ll bet the City of London is re-thinking their liberal Filming policy now. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/36 "2019-01-03T18:24:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s as if they wrote the script like one of those “Choose Your Own Adventures”, and they took turns writing the next scene, with each writer determined to write the others into a corner they couldn’t get out of. It’s one of the few scenarios that makes this script intelligible. “It’s like Bandersnatch, but the remote’s broken. And it’s less funny!” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/37 "2019-01-04T02:24:23Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > But yeah, **Step Brothers** was not good. “What could be better than _one_ humongous, massively annoying Man-Child? That’s right-- TWO!!!” Blasphemy! Step Brothers was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Kelby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a587f6/32.png) [@Kelby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelby)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/38 "2019-01-04T02:28:51Z")
Let me add my voice: It’s a steaming pile. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/39 "2019-01-06T04:01:49Z")
It’s elementary school! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2019, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969/40 "2019-01-06T07:48:50Z")
> [@Kelby](#): > > Let me add my voice: It’s a steaming pile. Steamers are the worst! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-holmes-and-watson-really-that-bad/826969.md?page=3)