Not suitable under 13; parental guidance to 14 (strong sexual references, drug use, coarse language, lack of interest)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not suitable due to strong crude humour, coarse language, and lack of interest. |
Children aged 13–14 | Parental guidance recommended due to strong crude humour, coarse language, and lack of interest. |
Children aged 15 and over | Ok for this age group. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Holmes & Watson |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Crude humour and coarse language. |
Length: | 90 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Holmes & Watson is a comic spoof on the infamous stories of Sherlock Homes and his sidekick Watson. After foiling another plot by his archnemesis, Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes), detective Sherlock Holmes (Will Ferrell) and his wannabe co-detective, Dr John Watson (John C. Reilly), investigate a murder and plot to kill the Queen (Pam Ferris). Whilst battling distractions from their sex-addicted housekeeper Mrs Hudson (Kelly Macdonald), and budding love from the beautiful and intelligent Dr Grace Hart (Rebecca Hall) and her odd companion Millie (Lauren Lapkus), it becomes clear to Holmes and Watson that the mystery may be more complicated than they originally thought.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Death; misogyny; crime; drug and alcohol dependence; love.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
There are frequent sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is frequent coarse language in this movie, including:
Holmes & Watson is a lazy parody of the Sherlock Holmes detective mysteries. It very much misses the mark due to its outdated, crude, and often tasteless humour. While only rated M, this film is inappropriate for children under 13, due to the strongly sexual humour, violent slapstick, and strong use of substances. Parental guidance is warranted for those under 15. Unlike other Ferrell and Reilly comedies, this film is unlikely to entertain older children or adults.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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ABN: 16 005 214 531