Holmes is puffing on a pipe, getting high and relaxing.

Dr. Watson is listening to the medical examiner cast derogatory aspersions on a dead girl, assuming she is a prostitute.

Of course, the medical examiner is wrong. Dr. Watson seeks out Holmes: to save him from ennui and death, to solve the murder of the girl.

Turns out she is an aristocrat.

Turns out she's not the first victim.

Sherlock Holmes (Rupert Everett) rarely explains his conclusions in a satisfying manner. Perhaps I am spoiled by CSI. Maybe he is befuddled by the opium.

The near misses in capturing the villan(s) are standard fare as are the explanations for his perversions. Yawn.

In this film, Dr. Watson (Ian Hart) is rather bright, sharp and intelligent, as opposed to the comedic nitwit of the classic television series, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

He's to be married to an American woman. The sub-theme here is that rich American heiresses are running to Great Britain to purchase an English husband and a title.