That said, this is an absolute joy.
I suspect the idea for the film came from watching Remington Steele, because the premise is about identical, but here it is perfected. Ben Kingsley's performance as the put-upon and rigidly proper Watson is flawless. Michael Caine has a great talent for playing the aloof genius, and also for playing the colossal moron. He doubles the talent by switching from one extreme to the other in the blink of an eye.
And Paul Freeman perfects a sublimely sinister portrayal of Moriarty (no, not Arty Morty). From just watching the film without looking up the name, who would have caught that this was the evil French anti-Indy from "Raiders of the Lost Ark"?
The only negative I might say about the movie is Jeffrey Jones' badly affected accent, but who cares? His performance as Lestrade is fun to watch with some sympathy - he's aware that Holmes is faking it but never quite able to nail it down with any proof, even to himself.
This is a fun, intelligent movie, and I suppose that's its own downfall.
This movie was one of so many sad cases that show how the best movies tend to get pathetic marketing behind them, just because they don't cater to the lowest common denominator.
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