The genius detective Sherlock Holmes (Will Ferrell) and his sidekick Dr. Watson (John C. Reilly) have 4 days to solve a murder or the Queen of England will be assassinated.

Brought to us from the writer/director of Get Hard (Etan Cohen) this is at best very uneven improvised comedy and at worst utterly dire. Anyone hoping for the highs of the Ferrell/Reilly double act of Step Brothers or even the half decent Talladega Nights will be sorely disappointed.

Essentially it boils down to a series of loosely interlocking improvised comedy sketches with a thinly detailed overarching story that doesn’t really make sense. Jokes range from how attractive the pairing find the Queen, how inept President Trump is, parodying Guy Ritchie’s Holmes films and the peculiarities of 19th century medicine (cocaine and heroin are fantastic tonics). And there is one inspired cameo at the end.

The only thing startling about the entire affair is how the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Rebecca Hall, Kelly MacDonald, Hugh Laurie, Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan all signed on for their small and unforgiving roles. The fact that Coogan and Reilly will be sharing the screen in January in the brilliant Stan and Ollie makes it more baffling whilst watching their one scene together here.

Spend your Christmas holiday doing something better than watching this. Even at 89 minutes long it’s a waste of your time.