It's movie review time and Sherlock Holmes rears his head once more. I have a lingering fascination for Holmes and Watson, stemming from a complete edition bought in a motorway service station many years ago, and this is probably one of the earliest adaptations I ever saw. Ir's an adaptation with a large twist, though, a central conceit unmatched by any other screen version. Perhaps one day Holmes will be the villain, and Watson allied with Moriarty but until then the most outlandish conceit is this: What if Holmes were merely a facade, a dupe hired to front for the real detective genius? A genius none other than Dr John Watson (also known as The Crime Doctor in his own mind). Now that's the killer conceit and it's one they mostly pull off with aplomb for this comedy. For the most parts, Michael Caine plays an admirably debauched actor playing Sherlock Holmes and Ben Kingsley plays his natural stiffness and seriousness to the right level as the frustrated and unappreciated Dr Watson. At the heart of the movie these two function admirably, even when the central gag begins to stiffen toward the final third of the movie.
Normally I'm disappointed by practically every movie I watch, but that's more illustrative of my current state of mind than the movie itself, and these reviews tend to be more evenhanded. It's not so hard to be more positive about this movie as it is almost short enough to avoid the padded out state of most gimmick comedy movies and really manages to maintain enough laughs throughout. Michael Caine perhaps plays it a little too broad at points but it serves as a counterpoint to Kingsley being utterly serious throughout. No one else really makes an impression, except perhaps for Mrs Hudson, but then Mrs Hudson always makes an impression. It's a requirement of the part. The inevitable role reversal at the end where Holmes is forced to solve the mystery, and in a very credible way based on his real identity, is in no way a stretch although the joke played on the ever imbecilic Lestrade seems a little too mean at the end. In many ways, the finale where Watson reconciles with his own creation is - perhaps accidentally - analogous to Conan Doyle's reconciliation with his own sometimes-hated creation. That parallel had never occurred to me before, and is quite interesting.
Apparently Michael Caine was criticised quite heavily for his choices of projects over his career, mixing total bilge ('The Swarm') with minor classics ('Educating Rita') but on the whole his average is good and far better than some others (<cough> Ben Kingsley <cough>). This is definitely a solid movie, fun, sometimes silly but never stupid and with a fine supporting cast. In may ways it was one of the last genuine comedies, followed perhaps by a few comedic fairy tales by Rob Reiner, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman. Hopefully in the future there will be more. Taken as part of a pair with 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' we see Caine at his comedic best in this era.
Go on, watch 'Without A Clue', it's not a classic but it's funny and won't offend anyone. Also, it's got Sherlock Holmes.
O.
The film's concept is great. The title is bloody good. But there's too few real good laughs in this film. I was disappointed watching this film again nearly 25 years after its release.
ReplyDelete