HOLMES & WATSON
A crude, numbskull spoof that is not worth your family's time.
Should You Watch It?
HOLMES & WATSON has an endearing idea underneath its crude comedy: Holmes eventually learns that intellect alone is not enough, and that love and empathy matter. The film even gives that theme its own musical number.
Unfortunately, the movie buries that thought beneath dumb jokes, obvious sexual innuendos, physical comedy, foul language, and a string-of-gags script that is more interested in low humor than in its murder mystery. The supporting cast is excellent, but mostly wasted.
The result is a juvenile, unfunny comedy with excessive content and little entertainment value. Skip it, especially for family movie night.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESWill Ferrell plays a prideful, somewhat bumbling Sherlock Holmes, who refuses to make his sidekick, Doctor Watson, a co-detective. Together, they try to solve a murder before the killer murders the Queen.
Their investigation centers on a killer impersonating their greatest nemesis, Moriarty. Along the way, Holmes and Watson meet several acquaintances and go on many adventures.
Is It Any Good?
One star means this comedy offers very little entertainment value. The script is uneven and feels less like a cohesive story than a string of gags. The mystery is uninteresting, and the movie feels much longer than its 99-minute running time.
The broad humor produces few laughs among the dumb jokes, slapstick, body humor, and innuendo. An excellent supporting cast, including Rebecca Hall, Ralph Fiennes, Kelly Macdonald, Hugh Laurie, and Lauren Lapkus, provides only minor relief and is ultimately wasted. Even fans of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly may find this too dumb for them.
The Worldview
HOLMES & WATSON presents a strong pagan worldview alongside scenes of debauchery. Its more positive idea is that love is more powerful than logic: Holmes cannot save the day until he accepts the love of the people around him and makes room for emotions. That endearing theme is a good thought, but the film seems to spoof it as well, and its message is eclipsed by the movie's crude humor and other negative factors.
The film also includes politically correct, liberal political jokes, including jokes supporting gun control. The idea of a female doctor is treated as a running joke, and these are described as among the movie's smarter jokes, though they are controversial and painfully obvious.
The film's emphasis on love and empathy points toward a truth Scripture states plainly: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong pagan worldview with scenes depicting various types of debauchery, but the movie’s premise speaks of love being more powerful than logic so only when Holmes accepts the love of the people around him can he actually save the day, plus some politically correct, liberal political jokes, including jokes supporting gun control
Foul Language
17 obscenities (including one “f” word, eight “s” words, three “a” words, one “b” word, four “d” words), five exclamatory light profanities, and various scatological jokes including depicted and implied vomiting, a character spits up after being poisoned, one of the symptoms of the poison also includes depicted male lactation, Sherlock calculates the trajectory of his urine but then ends up peeing his pants, Watson reveals he’s been carrying around jars of Sherlock’s urine which he later smashes
Violence
Numerous instances of comical violence with little blood, including Watson excessively shooting up a courtroom and killing someone in the process, a slapping match between Holmes and Watson, a character poisons another character, two characters get stabbed, depicted boxing match, two characters accidentally hit another character in the head and try to hide the body, school bullies attack the new student, a dead body falls out of a birthday cake, and comically graphic descriptions of hanging
Sex
Numerous sexual jokes and innuendos including a running joke in the movie about a character “touching himself” with a long string of innuendos describing the process, Watson celebrates having beaten syphilis, Holmes makes several references to his penis, Watson sends a sensual drunk telegram to a woman asking what she is wearing and requests that the telegram includes a tracing of his genitals (with innuendos for their names), Holmes wants to know if a girl drips hot wax on her body, a running joke about Mrs. Hudson having male guests including one being seen coming out of the bedroom zipping his pants up, a fly that Holmes and Watson are trying to catch lands on several phallic objects about which Homes makes innuendos, Watson and Grace sensually embalm a body together in the morgue, references to prostitution, and innuendoes about self-abuse
Nudity
A scantily clad girl in a corset carries a sign around a boxing ring for a match, Watson has a sensual dream about strip-chess with Grace where he removes his shirt and she removes her outer garments but continues to wear her dress. A naked, male dead body falls out of a cake exposing the upper half, and the body is later seen at the morgue but no genitals are shown
Alcohol Use
A sequence where Holmes and Watson get very drunk at a bar
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
Sherlock Holmes carries a pipe, and there are several references to cocaine and opium, including one scene where Holmes and Watson play lawn games while under the influence of cocaine;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Bullying but rebuked, betting, and a child picks a man’s pocket.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Why can love and empathy matter as much as intelligence? How does Scripture describe the greatest kind of love?
1 Corinthians 13:4–7, 13The film includes bullying that is rebuked. What does it look like to resist bullying and treat vulnerable people with dignity?
Ephesians 4:32 · Philippians 2:3–4When a comedy uses crude jokes to get attention, how can we practice discernment about what we allow to shape our minds?
Philippians 4:8 · Ephesians 5:3–4The movie includes jokes about political issues. How should Christians pursue wisdom and graciousness when discussing disagreements?
James 1:19–20 · Colossians 4:6The Final Word
HOLMES & WATSON has a worthwhile idea about love and empathy, but crude humor, excessive content, weak storytelling, and few laughs overwhelm it. For your family or your own movie night, SKIP IT. Choose a smarter comedy instead.
