Toby is real, relaxed, and natural. He is good-looking, engaging, professional, and an excellent performer. This is more than could be said of the rest of the cast, otherwise distinguished though they may be, in this bewildering foray into would-be Doyle country. The film's merit is that Holmes and Freud belong in the same late Victorian era, and their supposed deductive faculties are more or less of a piece, as well as their apparent mutual enthusiasm for cocaine. The Austrian scenery and Viennese décor are captivating. Everything else is either fake or ludicrous. It is also atrociously dragged out and prolonged. There are a number of pointlessly puzzling episodes, such as a real tennis match, a risky excursion to the Spanish Riding School, an anachronistic song by Sondheim in a Viennese brothel, a railroad race, a ridiculous duel between Sherlock and Jeremy Kemp on the roof of a moving train which goes on and interminably on. These events have absolutely nothing to do with anything. It is a complete mystery why they are there.
After watching a fair number of dvds during the last six months I've come to the conclusion that there are two types of film, believable and unbelievable. This movie is preposterous in all respects. An American Dr Watson with a strangulated accent only Americans would think was English, a Sherlock who is frantic and hysterical instead of icy calm and logical, and a Freud with a black beard, when it should be white or grey --- or at least of a different shape: these constitute the main protagonists. A Professor Moriarty masquerades as a geriatric Laurence Olivier, who looks unlikely to be able to mastermind a trip to the care home, let alone a network of criminals. However he is reported to have had a naughty past, and contributed to a homicide. There is also a Turkish Pasha. The thespian skills of Vanessa Redgrave depend entirely on her family connections. I can't think of anything else useful to say. The solution to this mystery is 100% insoluble. Unless somebody came up with a pot of money and the actors decided to go off and have a jolly holiday in Austria, all expenses paid. Nominated for two Oscars ? Was this the ultimate joke ?
After watching a fair number of dvds during the last six months I've come to the conclusion that there are two types of film, believable and unbelievable. This movie is preposterous in all respects. An American Dr Watson with a strangulated accent only Americans would think was English, a Sherlock who is frantic and hysterical instead of icy calm and logical, and a Freud with a black beard, when it should be white or grey --- or at least of a different shape: these constitute the main protagonists. A Professor Moriarty masquerades as a geriatric Laurence Olivier, who looks unlikely to be able to mastermind a trip to the care home, let alone a network of criminals. However he is reported to have had a naughty past, and contributed to a homicide. There is also a Turkish Pasha. The thespian skills of Vanessa Redgrave depend entirely on her family connections. I can't think of anything else useful to say. The solution to this mystery is 100% insoluble. Unless somebody came up with a pot of money and the actors decided to go off and have a jolly holiday in Austria, all expenses paid. Nominated for two Oscars ? Was this the ultimate joke ?