A very Weird But Very Good Sherlock Holmes movie

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	• Seven Per Cent Solution Alan Arkin, Vanessa Redgrave Universal Studios, 1996 average customer review:based on 14 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Perfect Pastiche

From the opening to the closing credits, filled with illustrations that originally accompanied Doyle's stories in the Strand, the details of the movie are painstakingly accurate when compared to those in the canon. This is one non-canonical Holmes story that exists in the same world as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

The movie takes the liberty of assuming that all of Dr. Watson's accounts of Sherlock Holmes are true, except for one. That would be "The Final Problem", in which the great detective supposedly dies at the hands of his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty. The movie suggests that this story is merely a cover up for a period in time in which Holmes was getting help with his cocaine addiction from none other than famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud.

The settings and characters ring true to both Doyle's mysteries and the Sydney Paget illustrations that accompanied them. Sherlock Holmes' deerstalker and cloak, though never mentioned by Doyle, look more like Paget's illustrations than ever before, more rugged than in most film interpretations. American actor Robet Duvall, despite sometimes struggling with the British accent, portrays Watson as an intellectually and physically fit comrade for Holmes, not a bumbler. Laurence Olivier's Prof. Moriarty matches the vision of Doyle and Paget rather than the cliché mustache twirler of other movies. Only now, Moriarty isn't really a criminal mastermind. He's Holmes' childhood math tutor.

Alan Arkin depicts Freud as a man of intelligence, insight, and above all, honor.

The inclusion of lesser known characters like Mycroft Holmes and Toby is a plus. There are also references, both direct and sly, to canonical Holmes stories.

While Nicol Williamson's performance as Sherlock Holmes lacks the vigor and spark of Basil Rathbone or Christopher Plummer, Williamson succeeds in showing Holmes as a troubled individual rather than a god. The movie mixes drama, subtle humor, mystery, and even action, finally showing Holmes as the capable fighter he was in the canon. The end of the film strays from the books in order to explore the uncharted territory of Holmes' childhood, providing a deeply moving climax.

This may come truer to Sir Arthur's original vision than any other pastiche written for film so far.

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Look at the prices!

ROFL, yeah I'm going to pay that in your dreams. It is a good thing I don't base my review on the ridiculous prices of these outrageous sellers. If I based it on them I would give it no stars. Great movie with good story and cast, I will be glad when it is finally back in print. I would be very surprised if it isn't re-released on DVD. Just be patient.

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A Bonny Holmes Adventure in Freud's Vienna

This film has haunted me since I first saw it in the 70's, to some extent because prior to that, my viewing experience of Holmes was our standard---yet deeply appreciated---Basil Rathbone interpretation. This fulsome breathing of life into Doyle's Holmes and Watson was a complete delight---Nichol Williamson and Robert Duval more that do the stories justice.
Since Williamson's Holmes is lost in the throes of cocaine addiction as the story begins, the journey to free him of it carries us forward to Vienna. Duval's Watson has since then been my favourite interpretation due to his capturing the essence of Watson's upright, un-bumbling, and throughly splendid character. Then to add Alan Arkin as Sigmund Freud is a master stroke. Only Arkin and David Suchet have been able to interpret the much maligned doctor to my satisfaction. Vannessa Redgrave also does a lovely turn as a fellow sufferer to drug addiction---he absolute trust in Freud is quite poignant.
Others have been less than generous about the film's flaws, but it's casting, photography, intriguing storyline far outweigh the nigglers. It's a beautiful step back into pre-Edwardian Europe, with a even a little Stephen Sondheim ditty thrown in when we venture into an upscale Vienese house of ill-repute.
I am utterly appalled that THE SEVEN PERCENT SOLUTION is not available on DVD, but hope in the near future that it may be.

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A very Weird But Very Good Sherlock Holmes movie

I love Angst.
So I love this movie.

This movie couldn't be too far from the Truth...Sorta.
ACD wrote that Holmes was an avid user of Cocaine and that in a few of the original Stories Watson tried to get him to leave it.

The only thing that I didn't like about the movie was that he got over his addition in one day.

The movie also has some very weird withdrawal scenes. But I love the story. And have read the book.
if you get a chance read the book before you see or after. The book came out not as a novel of the movie. But the movie was based on the book.

It's a very good watch. if you like to see famous literary characters in torment.

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Worthwhile for Freud Completists

"The Seven-Per cent Solution" is the sort of film that's languished in obscurity for decades. Upon viewing the movie again, I can understand why. While the characterizations of both Sigmund Freud and Sherlock Holmes are spot-on, the action sequences and suspense are woefully underdeveloped.

The film (adapted by author Nicholas Meyer from his book) is a literary "cross-over" scenario. What if Dr. Freud, father of psychoanalysis, analyzed Britain's most famous detective? This is a fascinating "What-If?" starting point, and Meyer finds a clever way to bring the two giants together. Freud affectionados might be a little surprised at the way Alan Arkin portrays the good doctor, but that's because Meyer provides us with a look at the young, rebellious doctor. As shown here, Freud hasn't yet mastered free-association or dream analysis techniques, and is still using hypnotherapy. It's the meeting of the minds between a famous scientist and an equally famous literary detective that makes this film a charmer.

Unfortunately, there's also a half-baked plot involving Turkish kidnappers, Eastern Europeans with heavy gambling debts, and one of the most poorly-filmed fight sequences atop a train in the history of 1970s movies. I can accept Sherlock Holmes dueling with a saber; I can't accept Freud suddenly brandishing a shotgun and threatening several Turks. To be blunt, the plot seems to exist because Meyer tried to make his original idea a bit more commercial. Meyer failed at this, and the silly attempts to generate suspense are most likely the real reason this film isn't seen or heard of anymore.

The only group of people who I can imagine purchasing this DVD are psychology professors. The portrayal of Freud, as mentioned earlier, is uncannily accurate and I believe that it could be used in a classroom to bring the psychoanalyist to life. Casual Holmes fans may want to take a quick peek, but there's little here to draw the viewer in more than once.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Writer Nicholas Meyer (who went on to write two of the best Star Trek films) made his bones with his adaptation of his bestselling novel, directed by Herbert Ross. Fanciful and entertaining, it imagines what might have happened had Dr. Watson (Robert Duvall) convinced Sherlock Holmes (Nicol Williamson) to seek a cure for his cocaine addiction from Dr. Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin). This meeting of the minds takes a turn into adventure when Holmes and Freud team up to solve a kidnapping mystery. Arkin is intriguingly likable as Freud, while Williamson makes a keen and frenetic Holmes. Duvall is almost unrecognizable as the avuncular, phlegmatic Watson. Laurence Olivier turns up as Professor Moriarty, who is hardly the criminal mastermind that the drug-deluded Holmes believes. --Marshall Fine

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