In 2006, actors Will Farrell and John C Reilly co-starred to great effect in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and, two years later, they reunited for the acclaimed Step Brothers.
Reilly had a small cameo in 2013’s Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues alongside Ferrell. Yet, it is only now that the duo reunites to co-star in Holmes and Watson.
Written and directed by Etan Coen, the film is billed as a hilarious homage to the enduring characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, with Ferrell playing the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes and Reilly co-starring as Holmes’ friend and assistant Dr Watson.
For Coen, finally getting to shoot the film on the streets of London was the final, deeply satisfying leg of a journey that started eight years ago when he came up with the idea.
“It’s so great to have Will and John together again, and it’s true to the Sherlock Holmes’ canon. If you know the books, the buddy relationship in the stories is only one notch less comedic than the one you will see on screen,” he says. “The way Holmes treats Watson – you might say ‘abuses’ Watson – in the books is very much the stuff of a buddy comedy.”
Ferrell concurs: “There’s a lot of comedy to be mined there. We’re making Holmes and Watson after Sherlock has been done so many times, but we’re doing it in a comedic way and that gives us licence to go in any direction that would be unexpected.”
Although the two characters are determined to solve the case, they are always dealing with their feelings for one another
Reilly points out that the Holmes and Watson friendship is a very deep one – it’s just Sherlock doesn’t really appreciate how much he relies on his lieutenant.
“I think there’s a very strong, loving relationship between these two characters and that’s apparent,” says the actor.
“You know they live together and, through most of the stories, they talk about their romantic interests. But these are usually distant women that they fantasise about.”
While the story focuses on a case the duo is working on, it’s also the story of their relationship. Reilly goes on to explain that, although the two characters are determined to solve the case at hand, they are always dealing with their feelings for one another.
And there are also “the perceived slights and loyalty and devotion and betrayal”, which makes for hilarious melodrama about these two guys.
Holmes and Watson is told through the lens of Watson. “We are always so focused on Sherlock,” muses Ferrell. “And, in the stories, Sherlock is very arrogant. He doesn’t mean to be, but he’s a genius. Watson is always being handed things and then sent away for months while Sherlock solves a crime.”
This version of the story has Watson imagined as a more macho version than what audiences may be used to. He is often seen as a doctor and a very thoughtful man who is observing what’s going on.
But, in this version, he is presented as a former soldier who served in Afghanistan.
“I’m sort of the belaboured manservant for some of the story and then there’s this wonderful catharsis that happens later in the film where Sherlock is like: wait, we’re equals! I value you,” adds Reilly.
Ferrell says that a comparison with another iconic socially awkward figure from contemporary culture helped him build Sherlock. “I would say towards the beginning Sherlock is almost a little bit like Spock from Star Trek. He’s logical and he just talks about the facts, and some people don’t like hearing that. Sherlock is not trying to be mean – he is just telling the truth. But it can be construed that he is a jerk,” he adds.
“And Watson is a sweetheart. But, in the end, both go through a transformation. Sherlock, most importantly, by realising how important his partner has been, not only as a friend and confidante, but as an essential element to helping him solve crimes and, basically, live his life. He would be completely lost without him.”
Ferrell and Reilly are joined by a fantastic ensemble, including Ralph Fiennes as the arch villain Moriarty, Kelly Macdonald as housekeeper Mrs Hudson, Rebecca Hall as the glamorous Dr Grace Hart and Rob Brydon as Inspector Lestrade, the head of Scotland Yard.