Toby is real, relaxed, and natural. He is good-looking, engaging, professional, and an excellent performer. This is more than could be said of the rest of the cast, otherwise distinguished though they may be, in this bewildering foray into would-be Doyle country. The film's merit is that Holmes and Freud belong in the same late Victorian era, and their supposed deductive faculties are more or less of a piece, as well as their apparent mutual enthusiasm for cocaine. The Austrian scenery and Viennese décor are captivating. Everything else is either fake or ludicrous. It is also atrociously dragged out and prolonged. There are a number of pointlessly puzzling episodes, such as a real tennis match, a risky excursion to the Spanish Riding School, an anachronistic song by Sondheim in a Viennese brothel, a railroad race, a ridiculous duel between Sherlock and Jeremy Kemp on the roof of a moving train which goes on and interminably on. These events have absolutely nothing to do with anything. It is a complete mystery why they are there.After watching a fair number of dvds during the last six months I've come to the conclusion that there are two types of film, believable and unbelievable. This movie is preposterous in all respects. An American Dr Watson with a strangulated accent only Americans would think was English, a Sherlock who is frantic and hysterical instead of icy calm and logical, and a Freud with a black beard, when it should be white or grey --- or at least of a different shape: these constitute the main protagonists. A Professor Moriarty masquerades as a geriatric Laurence Olivier, who looks unlikely to be able to mastermind a trip to the care home, let alone a network of criminals. However he is reported to have had a naughty past, and contributed to a homicide. There is also a Turkish Pasha. The thespian skills of Vanessa Redgrave depend entirely on her family connections. I can't think of anything else useful to say. The solution to this mystery is 100% insoluble. Unless somebody came up with a pot of money and the actors decided to go off and have a jolly holiday in Austria, all expenses paid. Nominated for two Oscars ? Was this the ultimate joke ?

Once the mystery got underway, I really enjoyed this movie.I wish it had spent less time at the beginning taking us into the very realistic details of Holmes' cocaine addiction. It does give Alan Arkin a chance to show what a very fine actor he is, but I confess I didn't particularly enjoy watching him suffer so.I admit that when we find out what has happened to Miss Devereux, and why, it seems almost silly - and therefore quite different from the early tone of the movie - but that does lead to a lot of lighthearted dueling, etc., on a train - two trains, actually - flying through the Balkan countryside.And a "borrowing" from *Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea*, when the second train runs out of coal.Still, if you can get through the seriousness of the first part, the rest of the movie is fun.And it even has a rather tacked-on, unexpected romantic end.

The DVD release of "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" was in the early days of DVD production, which you can tell because it doesn't even have a menu separate from the chapters. (You'd almost think I was talking about the early days of film and/or sound pictures; it was only 10 years ago!) The original DVD edition was quite limited and is now out of print without another scheduled release. The OOP DVD edition (if you can find it) now runs as high as $100 to $150 at second-hand retail stores and $75 to $100 on online auctions. (I think Amazon marketplace sellers have copies starting at $120.) So the question is whether the movie itself justifies the equivalent of buying a new Blu-Ray player. Maybe, maybe not. And, in case you don't know, the story itself is not by Arthur Conan Doyle.To shell out $100+ for an entertainment flick of this sort is probably for hardcore Sherlock Holmes fans. This is not quite the deep suspense film I was expecting with a much more intellectual slant. "Seven Per-cent" is instead a fun mystery-thriller very much in the style of 1970's period pieces set anywhere between the 17th and early 20th centuries, such as "The Great Train Robbery", "Murder on the Orient Express", "The Three Musketeers", "The Count of Monte Cristo", etc. (These movies invariably starred either Sean Connery or Richard Chamberlain.) Seems like trains and sword-fighting were the staples of this era of film-making, and in "Seven Per-cent" you get both.The performance that really saves this film is Nicol Williamson as Sherlock Holmes. He provides a nervous-angst to the character that is rarely seen by the likes of Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett. And yet, after having seen Williamson's take on the immortal sleuth, you wonder if this is closer to what Arthur Conan Doyle had in mind. Holmes is somewhat of an intellectual recluse, and Williamson breathes life into this somewhat darker side of Holmes. Holmes was a great sleuth but not necessarily the easiest person with which to get on. The story begins with Holmes suffering from cocaine addiction, making him positively insufferable. His closest associate, Dr Watson (Robert Duvall), resolves to relocate Holmes to Vienna, Austria, for treatment at the hands of none-other than Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin). Through interesting misdirection, Watson gets Holmes to Freud. Toward the end of his treatment, Holmes becomes enmeshed in another case involving Freud and one of his patients.The movie then literally moves at full-speed ahead with chases, brothels, sword fights, and the obligatory train sequence. However, unlike the first segment involving Holmes' treatment, the second act is never quite fully explained. Not unlike movies today, long action sequences take over the film and the underlying plot is not very well explained. This is certainly an enjoyable movie but far from being one of the best Sherlock Holmes films. The recent offering starring Robert Downey Jr has a bit more depth than this film made 35 years earlier, although Downey's character is 180-degrees from Doyle's. But that said, you almost can't beat Williamson's performance which has to rank as one of the best portrayals of England's greatest detective. If the studios re-released it on DVD, a new price of $15 to $20 seems a lot more elementary.

This is indeed an excellent Holmes movie, though it is not based on Conan Doyle's books.Except some middle problems (the feminism, Sigmund Freud and the fight for getting of cocaine addiction are not what we want in a Holmes movie), the film is true to Holmes canon.We have here a Nicol Williamson playing perfect Holmes, and resembling physically sufficient to fool us;we really could think he IS Holmes.We have a Robert Duvall as an excellent Watson.We have a good Moriarty in Laurence Olivier.And we have the perfect Mycroft.We have the necessary deductions.We have Holmes sword skills.WE HAVE ALL.It is a serious comedy, which will make you laugh and will add for you a new case in Holmes casebook.A real must for Holmes fans.