1 star out of 5
Is movie comedy dead? What was the last really funny, wide-appeal film? In my lifetime, it seemed like mini-generations passed the torch, making each era’s silly but solid flicks: people from Python, SNL, SCTV, The State, Freaks & Geeks. But it truly feels like the torch has been extinguished.
Will Ferrell was once a reliable funnyman. Ron Burgundy! Old School. Elf. Ricky Bobby! Step Brothers. Willing to do anything for a laugh. Paired in two of those movies with the Tim & Eric-marinated John C. Reilly.
They’re back, in a comedic take on Sherlock Holmes, written and directed by Etan Cohen. Wait, didn’t Cohen write both the very funny Idiocracy and Tropic Thunder? Well, he co-wrote those, which is not the same. And his only real directing experience is Will Ferrell’s last flop, Get Hard (not to be confused with John C. Reilly’s much funnier Walk Hard, which was so very long ago).
This movie is a piece of shit. A fundamental flaw is that Ferrell trots out yet another dumb-guy character. Except we’re also supposed to accept that Holmes is the world’s smartest, most logical person. These ideas don’t jibe.
Etan apparently thinks it’s hilarious to have characters from long ago make references to 21st-century concepts. He does this over and over and over again, and it’s never funny, not once. There are also wildly outdated references (Ghost?? Titanic?), and the rest of the “screenplay” is simply a series of Holmes and Watson yelling, shooting, getting hit in the face, vomiting.
There are some talented actors in this who are utterly wasted: Ralph Fiennes, Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Kelly Macdonald. As for Lauren Lapkus, she should’ve demanded her name be taken off the film, as her performance is humiliatingly unfunny.
The estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle should also demand that his name be removed.
It’s a crummy movie, but there will always be crummy movies. The larger question is: Where is the next crop of comedy stars? Hiding behind the bloated budgets and freedom of streaming services? The big screen beckons! Or on YouTube? Seems awful hard to go from a viral clip to 90 minutes of funny. Somebody please step up. Please.
Jack Silbert, curator