Holmes and Watson

Sherlock Holmes (Will Ferrell) and Dr. Watson (John C. Reilly) investigate a series of murders that may be the work of Professor Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes) and seem to be working up to assassinating Queen Victoria (Pam Ferris). Somebody—writer-director Etan Cohen, maybe—got the idea to cast Ferrell and Reilly, and to recruit a decent supporting cast: Fiennes, Rebecca Hall, Steve Coogan, Kelly Macdonald, Lauren Lapkus. Then it all went to hell. Every joke sinks, and every actor is wasted (especially Fiennes). Ferrell and Reilly’s comic rapport, which squeaked them by in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and Step Brothers, abandons them completely, and they seem to know it. The smell of flop-sweat permeates the movie like real sweat in a locker room. It’s too bad to be offensive, too inert to be annoying.