‘Holmes & Watson’ Named Worst Picture Of The Year In 2019 Razzie Awards
The 2019 Razzie awards have been announced and it was a rough year for Holmes & Watson, the modern re-imagination of the classic duo starring Will Farrell and John C. Riley, Vulture reports. In addition to the uncoveted Worst Picture award, Holmes and Watson helped bring home a Worst Supporting Actor award for John C. Riley, an award for Worst Remake, Ripoff, or Sequel, and Worst Director for the film’s director, Etan Cohen.
Holmes and Watson earned the dubious honor of three awards but was nominated for more, including Worst Actor for Farrell and Worst Screen Combo for Farrell and Riley together.
The film’s multiple appearances on the nomination and winners lists were not a surprise, with scathing critical reviews, an abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score, and rampant reports of audience members walking out mid-screening.
The Hollywood Reporter delivered a representatively terrible review.
“You can feel the flop sweat emanating from the third onscreen pairing of Will Ferrell and John C Reilly. Making their previous vehicles Step Brothers and Talladega Nights seem the height of comic sophistication by comparison, Holmes & Watson features the duo parodying Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous characters to devastatingly unfunny effect,” their critic wrote.
Variety expanded slightly on the shortcomings, honing in on the title characters (and their actors) in particular.
“The trouble is, Sherlock Holmes exists so large in audiences’ minds already that the pair’s uninspired take feels neither definitive nor especially fresh…In writer-director Etan Cohen’s version, the joke begins and ends with the concept of Ferrell and Reilly as these two characters,” they published shortly after the movie’s release.
'Holmes & Watson,' Melissa McCarthy Win Razzie Awards for 2018's Worst https://t.co/vahKxWPr4I
— The Razzie® Awards (@RazzieAwards) February 23, 2019
The Razzy Awards, short for The Golden Raspberry Awards, were created by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John Wilson and Mo Murphy. The awards have been given since 1981 when the award ceremony took place in Wilson’s living room. The 2019 awards represent the 39th instance of the awards.
Here is the full list of this year’s nominees (and winners).
Worst Picture
Holmes & Watson
Gotti
The Happytime Murders
Robin Hood
Winchester
Worst Actress
Melissa McCarthy in The Happytime Murders and Life of the Party
Jennifer Garner in Peppermint
Amber Heard in London Fields
Helen Mirren in Winchester
Amanda Seyfried in The Clapper
Worst Actor
Donald J. Trump (As Himself) in Death of a Nation and Fahrenheit 11/9
Johnny Depp in Sherlock Gnomes
Will Ferrell in Holmes & Watson
John Travolta in Gotti
Bruce Willis in Death Wish
Worst Supporting Actor
John C. Reilly in Holmes & Watson
Jamie Foxx in Robin Hood
Ludacris in Show Dogs
Joel McHale in The Happytime Murders
Justice Smith in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Worst Supporting Actress
Kellyanne Conway (As Herself) in Fahrenheit 11/9
Marcia Gay Harden in Fifty Shades Freed
Kelly Preston in Gotti
Jaz Sinclair in Slender Man
Melania Trump (As Herself) in Fahrenheit 11/9
Worst Screen Combo
Donald J. Trump & His Self-Perpetuating Pettiness in Death of a Nation and Fahrenheit 11/9
Any Two Actors or Puppets in The Happytime Murders
Johnny Depp & His Fast-Fading Film Career in Sherlock Gnomes
Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly in Holmes & Watson
Kelly Preston & John Travolta in Gotti
Worst Remake, Ripoff or Sequel
Holmes & Watson
Death of a Nation
Death Wish
The Meg
Robin Hood
Worst Screenplay
Fifty Shades Freed, Screenplay by Niall Leonard, from the Novel by E.L. James
Death of a Nation, Written by Dinesh D’Souza & Bruce Schooley
Gotti, Screenplay by Leo Rossi and Lem Dobbs
The Happytime Murders, Screenplay by Todd Berger, Story by Berger and Dee Austin Robinson
Winchester, Written by Tom Vaughan and The Spierig Brothers
Razzie Redeemer Award
Actress: Melissa McCarthy
Actor: Tyler Perry
Director: Peter Farrelly
Franchise: Transformers
Studio: Sony Animation Studio