Once the mystery got underway, I really enjoyed this movie.
I wish it had spent less time at the beginning taking us into the very realistic details of Holmes' cocaine addiction. It does give Alan Arkin a chance to show what a very fine actor he is, but I confess I didn't particularly enjoy watching him suffer so.
I admit that when we find out what has happened to Miss Devereux, and why, it seems almost silly - and therefore quite different from the early tone of the movie - but that does lead to a lot of lighthearted dueling, etc., on a train - two trains, actually - flying through the Balkan countryside.
And a "borrowing" from *Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea*, when the second train runs out of coal.
Still, if you can get through the seriousness of the first part, the rest of the movie is fun.
And it even has a rather tacked-on, unexpected romantic end.
I wish it had spent less time at the beginning taking us into the very realistic details of Holmes' cocaine addiction. It does give Alan Arkin a chance to show what a very fine actor he is, but I confess I didn't particularly enjoy watching him suffer so.
I admit that when we find out what has happened to Miss Devereux, and why, it seems almost silly - and therefore quite different from the early tone of the movie - but that does lead to a lot of lighthearted dueling, etc., on a train - two trains, actually - flying through the Balkan countryside.
And a "borrowing" from *Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea*, when the second train runs out of coal.
Still, if you can get through the seriousness of the first part, the rest of the movie is fun.
And it even has a rather tacked-on, unexpected romantic end.