This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A very funny, clever and original telling of a Sherlock Holmes story. Rolls along, with fun and great humour. Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley are in fine form as Holmes and Watson. Good support from Jeffrey Jones, Peter Cook, Pat Keen and others.

'Sherlock Holmes' turns out to be a ham actor (Michael Caine), hired by brilliant detective Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley) to play a character whose adventures are dramatised by Watson and published in a popular weekly magazine. But the two men are forced to set aside their differences when Prof. Moriarty (Paul Freeman) hatches a fiendish plot to destabilise the British Empire... An unexpected gem. Thom Eberhardt's clever reworking of the mythology surrounding Holmes and Watson relies for the most part on character-based comedy rather than puns and sight-gags, and a wonderful cast of experienced British thesps plays it with just the right amount of reverence and mockery (Caine and Kingsley, in particular, make a formidable comic team). However, the script - by Gary Murphy and Larry Strawther - is entirely faithful to the spirit of Conan Doyle's most famous creation: Despite Holmes' incompetence and Watson's escalating outrage, the central mystery is genuinely skillful and engrossing, the clues are delightfully outlandish, and the Victorian atmosphere is conveyed with elegant simplicity, thanks to stylish art direction (by Brian Ackland-Snow) and costume design (by Judy Moorcroft).The character of Mrs. Hudson has a prominent role in this film, and it turns out to be a blessing, as Pat Keen played the role to the hilt. Her comedic portrayal of the proper and sometimes haughty Mrs. Hudson of the books was hysterical! (Oops! Some unintended hyperbole there! Well, what the heck, she really was extremely funny and I was impressed at just how engaging Ms. Keen really is! I had never heard of her before this movie and I found myself searching online for roles she has had in other films.) Turning the Sherlock Holmes stories any which way but loose, Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley make a great duet, battling crime and each other. The movie succeeds in being outrageously funny, and yet absolutely gripping. The movie is clean, though Leslie Giles' secret is enough to make you squirm in front of little ones. Lots of humor, a good mystery with quite a bit of suspense and the threat of real danger, plus very nice repartee between the two men as Watson becomes increasingly exasperated with his creation. This is a very under-rated film with a top notch cast.Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

Carolyn's thoughts: This was pretty funny, and an interesting twist on the Sherlock Holmes franchise. Instead of Holmes being the brilliant detective, Watson is the detective and just uses Holmes as a cover. It was funny throughout, and it kept us sufficiently entertained.Clint's thoughts: I was definitely reminded of the recent Seth Rogan version of The Green Hornet: A "hero" who is pretty much useless, with a sidekick who does all the work, all the while during which the "hero" comically takes all the glory from the "sidekick", who is ignored and never given credit.That's basically the same formula here... But with MUCH better actors!It was a total win. It had all the comedic feel of some of the recent Sherlock Holmes films, yet it was nothing like them at all. Funny adventures indeed... These guys could have done a series. It would have basically been the British Moonlighting. Would have been awesome.

The celebrated legendary fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes becomes the source of much humour in this wacky comedy written by Gary Murphy & Larry Strawther and directed by Thom Eberhardt ("Night of the Comet"). The premise here is that Sherlock Holmes was an invention of the sly Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley), who loved to dabble in crime solving as well as work as a physician, and was forced to create Holmes as a cover so that his reputation in medicine would not be tarnished. He subsequently hired boozy, clueless actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to play the role. The trouble for Watson is that nobody will take him seriously and they always want to talk to "Holmes", so Watson has to put up with his bumbling partners' ways as they set out to solve the case of missing plates (for printing money) and a missing employee from their mint. This works merely okay as a mystery, as it mainly mines all of its situations and characters for all of the laughs possible. It never really catches fire - so to speak - but is often engaging enough, and funny enough, to make for pleasant if not uproarious fare. The recreation of Victorian England is effective, and there are some atmospheric moments along the way. The real joy is in seeing Kingsley and Caine showing off their comedy chops; Kingsley basically plays the straight man and does a lot of reacting to Caines' appealing buffoonery. A fine supporting cast is just as enjoyable to watch: Paul Freeman (Belloq from "Raiders of the Lost Ark") as the nefarious Prof. Moriarty, Lysette Anthony as the fetching Leslie Giles, Jeffrey Jones as the intrepid Inspector Lestrade, who's portrayed as not being terribly competent himself, Nigel Davenport as the worried Lord Smithwick, Pat Keen as the angry Mrs. Hudson, and Peter Cook as grumpy Norman Greenhough. The movie does go on for quite a bit, losing a bit of its momentum at times, but the lively performances help to keep it always watchable. Caine is marvelous, whether he's goosing a woman or trying to break down the name Moriarty. (Arty Morty?) Overall, a good if not great comedy. Seven out of 10.