Let me begin on a positive note by stating that I was very impressed with the performances in the movie. Christopher Plummer surprisingly but effectively infuses Sherlock Holmes with emotion and at times a giddy enthusiasm. James Mason's Doctor Watson is no doddering old man. He lacks the Holmesian spark of genius, yet he is a capable contributor to the investigation. The real surprise is Genevieve Bujold. Although appearing in only one scene, her character has an emotional transformation that is quite moving.
Normally, with solid acting and strong production values, I would give this movie a passing grade. Yet, the drawbacks are so central to the plot itself that they make the movie fundamentally flawed. I understand the conspiracy theory espoused on the Jack the Ripper murders does not have to be historically accurate to make the movie a good piece of entertainment. However, the conspiracy of the elite is presented with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. From the first scenes in the concert hall, the viewer knows the direction of where the story is going. ***Mild spoiler*** The Star Chamber confrontation with John Gielguld's Lord Salisbury is just a gratuitous slander of a public official. It was not needed and made the thesis less credible. ***End spoiler***
Yet the above is not my main complaint. What is inexcusable for a Sherlock Holmes movie is that there is no MYSTERY. In a Holmes movie, one expects to have the mind challenged to interpret clues. There are hardly any clues at all in this movie; and none presented with any amount of context that would allow the viewer to think. To put it bluntly, there is 10 times more deductive reasoning used in one episode of a Law & Order television show than in the two hours of Murder by Decree. The producers were so intent on making an attack on the Victorian establishment that they forgot to make a Sherlock Holmes movie.
I am hard on Murder by Decree because an opportunity for a great movie was wasted. It had good actors giving strong performances, effective use of set and location shooting, and an interesting idea of having a famous fictional detective hunt for an infamous serial killer. Yet, the solution to the murders is presented in an obvious manner without a hint of mystery. What could have been a classic is just a watchable but flawed movie.
Normally, with solid acting and strong production values, I would give this movie a passing grade. Yet, the drawbacks are so central to the plot itself that they make the movie fundamentally flawed. I understand the conspiracy theory espoused on the Jack the Ripper murders does not have to be historically accurate to make the movie a good piece of entertainment. However, the conspiracy of the elite is presented with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. From the first scenes in the concert hall, the viewer knows the direction of where the story is going. ***Mild spoiler*** The Star Chamber confrontation with John Gielguld's Lord Salisbury is just a gratuitous slander of a public official. It was not needed and made the thesis less credible. ***End spoiler***
Yet the above is not my main complaint. What is inexcusable for a Sherlock Holmes movie is that there is no MYSTERY. In a Holmes movie, one expects to have the mind challenged to interpret clues. There are hardly any clues at all in this movie; and none presented with any amount of context that would allow the viewer to think. To put it bluntly, there is 10 times more deductive reasoning used in one episode of a Law & Order television show than in the two hours of Murder by Decree. The producers were so intent on making an attack on the Victorian establishment that they forgot to make a Sherlock Holmes movie.
I am hard on Murder by Decree because an opportunity for a great movie was wasted. It had good actors giving strong performances, effective use of set and location shooting, and an interesting idea of having a famous fictional detective hunt for an infamous serial killer. Yet, the solution to the murders is presented in an obvious manner without a hint of mystery. What could have been a classic is just a watchable but flawed movie.