When I saw the extremely low 8% review ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and 3.4 on IMDB for “Holmes and Watson” I made the mistake of thinking that because Will Ferrell was in this movie that it could not be that bad. Unfortunately, this movie is that bad and one of the worst comedy movies I have ever seen.

In the over 43 years since Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC in 1975 most will argue that Will Ferrell was one of the best cast members to ever appear on that show. Unfortunately, being a great performer and very funny on a ensemble show like Saturday Night Live does not mean this will result in funny movies in your acting future. Other than the two Anchorman movies, the first one being the best one of the two, Will Ferrell has made very few funny movies in this career.

Ferrell is one of the very few comedy actors in history who can made an audience laugh just with his eyes or a sudden change of a facial expression alone, the other actor being the late John Candy. Where are the comedy screenwriters who can write something great for Ferrell? It has happened once before with Anchorman, why cant this happen again? If I were Will Ferrell I would hold off on ever making another bad comedy movie again, because too many of movies like Holmes and Watson and his career in movies could be over.

Like all bad comedy movies I have seen over the years, and there have been many, nobody laughed at any point in this film. I was looking at my watch, counting the minutes until it was all over. Why a script like this was made into a movie – is anyone’s guess, but perhaps a favor was involved or some kind of a barter or payoff.

This movie teams Ferrell up again with the actor John C. Reilly, the last movie they made was Stepbrothers in 2008. Reilly and Ferrell do have some chemistry, but that was not nearly enough to save this very bad film.

In this case, the critics are right, Holmes and Watson should be missed by all.

Best Motion Picture – Drama

“Black Panther”
“BlackKklansman”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“If Beale Street Could Talk”
“A Star Is Born”

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

“Crazy Rich Asians”
“The Favourite”
“Green Book”
“Mary Poppins Returns”
“Vice”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama>

Glenn Close (“The Wife”)
Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”)
Nicole Kidman (“Destroyer”)
Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”)
Rosamund Pike (“A Private War”)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”)
Willem Dafoe (“At Eternity’s Gate”)
Lucas Hedges (“Boy Erased”)
Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody”)
John David Washington (“BlackKklansman”)

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Emily Blunt (“Mary Poppins Returns”)
Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”)
Elsie Fisher (“Eighth Grade”)
Charlize Theron (“Tully”)
Constance Wu (“Crazy Rich Asians”)

Best Director

Bradley Cooper (“A Star Is Born”)
Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”)
Peter Farrelly (“Green Book”)
Spike Lee (“BlackKklansman”)
Adam McKay (“Vice”)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Christian Bale (“Vice”)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Mary Poppins Returns”)
Vigo Mortensen (“Green Book”)
Robert Redford (“The Old Man and the Gun”)
John C. Reilly (“Stan and Ollie”)

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Amy Adams (“Vice”)
Claire Foy (“First Man”)
Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”)
Emma Stone (“The Favourite”)
Rachel Weisz (“The Favourite”)

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Mahershala Ali (“Green Book”)
Timothee Chalamet (“Beautiful Boy”)
Adam Driver (“BlackKklansman”)
Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”)
Sam Rockwell (“Vice”)

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture

Marco Beltrami (“A Quiet Place”)
Alexandre Desplat (“Isle of Dogs”)
Ludwig Göransson (“Black Panther”)
Justin Hurwitz (“First Man”)
Marc Shaiman (“Mary Poppins Returns”)

Best Original Song in a Motion Picture

“All the Stars” (“Black Panther”)
“Girl in the Movies” (“Dumplin'”)
“Requiem for a Private War” (“A Private War”)
“Revelation” (“Boy Erased”)
“Shallow” (“A Star Is Born”)

Best Screenplay in a Motion Picture

Barry Jenkins (“If Beale Street Could Talk”)
Adam McKay (“Vice”)
Alfonso Cuaron (“Roma”)
Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara (“The Favourite”)
Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie (“Green Book”)

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language

“Capernaum”
“Girl”
“Never Look Away”
“Roma”
“Shoplifters”

Best Animated Film

“Incredibles 2”
“Isle of Dogs”
“Mirai”
“Ralph Breaks the Internet”
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

The central story of the 1964 Disney Classic “Mary Poppins” is about a single father whose wife has recently died and who then has forgotten to make mortgage payments for 3 months and now faces losing his house, despite having to raise two children on his own. The callous inhumanity shown by the bankers in this story has nothing to do with fantasy or dancing and singing and everything to do with the the harsh reality of life and money.

For many people of a certain age, they will remember Mary Poppins as the very first movie they have ever seen in a movie theater, myself included. Given the great quality of the original, I thought this remake was extremely unnecessary. Despite never being a fan of musicals, most of the story here is quite boring with a film that is too long and with music that was not nearly good enough as the original. This could be a film that is enjoyable for young children younger than 12 years old but for everyone else, it drags on into uninteresting scenes that seem disjointed with a constantly overcast and rainy sky typical of London, reminding all of us that we would never want to live there.

The star of this film, Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda are both good in their roles, with some Oscar buzz for Blunt so it is unfortunate that this was not a better movie.

I recommend Mary Poppins Returns only for young children, but this version should be skipped in favor of renting the original Mary Poppins, which is a far better movie.