Enola Holmes

 3/4

Starring: Millie Bobby Brown, Louis Partridge, Sam Clafin, Helena Bonham Carter

Rated PG-13 for Some Violence

I get the strong sense that the story of "Enola Holmes" would be something that Hayao Miyazaki would love to turn into a film.  It has all his trademarks: a plucky heroine finding her own strength, a boy she rescues, and adults who continuously underestimate her.  Alas, Miyazaki isn't in the director's chair.  Harry Bradbeer does a serviceable job directing the film, but it is nonetheless a bit disappointing.

Enola Holmes (Brown) is a clever and independent young woman.  As well she should be, being the younger sister of the famed investigator Sherlock Holmes (Cavill).  Her father died when she was young and her brothers Sherlock and Mycroft (Clafin) left soon after.  So she was raised by her mother Eudoria to be a learned and self-reliant young woman.  She knows everything from classic literature to jiu-jitsu.  Her fairytale life comes to an end when Eudoria disappears, and Mycroft, who is her legal guardian, intends to put her in a finishing school for young ladies.  Enola doesn't like this one bit, and goes off to find her mother.  Soon after, she meets a young boy named Tewkesbury (Partridge), who is also on the run.  Now she has to use all her wits to find her mother, help her new friend, and stay out of Mycroft's clutches.

If "Enola Holmes" were a theatrical movie, I'd recommend giving this movie a pass.  But as a streaming flick, this ode to girl power isn't half bad.  It's overlong but entertaining, and Bradbeer's direction can charitably be called "pedestrian."  But Millie Bobbie Brown is a fetching young actress, and she is able to carry the film.  It has bigger names in the cast like Henry Cavill, Helena Bonham Carter and Fiona Shaw, but this is her show, and she's good enough to not be overshadowed by any of her more illustrious colleagues.

To their credit, none of the other actors are slumming for a paycheck.  They may not have as meaty of roles (or ones that are especially well-written, but they give it their all.  Henry Cavill makes some interesting choices in his portrayal of the famed detective.  Benedict Cumberbatch more or less defined the role for the modern age, giving us a man who is intellectually superior but emotionally stunted.  Cavill gives us a more human Sherlock.  He cares about his little sister, but there's only so much that he can do for her, and only so much the he believes she can do.  Sam Clafin is adequately loathsome as the perpetual stick in the mud; his croaky voice is a bit grating but Mycroft is definitely the kind of guy who deserves his comeuppance.  Louis Partridge is also rock solid as the love interest.  Tewkesbury is Enola's match, and the two young actors have enough chemistry to give their relationship a spark.  As for the fourth member of the cast, well, it's Helena Bonham Carter.  That's all that needs to be said.

What "Enola Holmes" is missing is a good storyteller.  This was made by a director-for-hire, and looks like it.  It lacks the gripping quality that all mysteries, even ones for kids, need.  It lacks the ability to make the viewer hunger for what happens next.  Part of the reason is the length; the film is too long.  But a lot of it is because Bradbeer isn't as gifted as this story deserves.

For what it is, "Enola Holmes" is entertaining.  Especially for younger kids.