Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)


Universal
Directed by Herbert Ross
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Watson is driven to intervene in the cocaine addiction of his friend Holmes. He tricks him into going to Vienna, where he is put under the care of none other than Sigmund Freud. Hypnotherapy is used to cure him of his drug habit, but along the way they solve the case of an abduction of a famous Viennese singer. Much is made about the similarities between Freud's way of deducing the unconscious and Holmes' way of solving a case. The film wavers uncomfortably between satire and drama, the prime examples being Alan Arkin's Freud and Duvall's Watson, neither of which are entirely successful in their characterizations. Nonetheless, an enjoyable ride, particularly the long set piece on a train for the finale.

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