A Feel-good Movie? Elementary!

Image retrieved from imdb.com

Our Wednesday Fox asked, “What’s your favorite feel-good movie?”

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I’m not a movie watcher. I’ll stop what I’m doing when a movie clip is shown on tv or online, but I don’t often choose to spend two hours or more watching an entire story unfold when I could be doing something productive (on my to-do list). But every now and then – usually as a social outing with grandkids or as a break during an intense weekend of writing – I’ll put the devices away and indulge. I don’t normally watch the movies that collect awards and accolades for addressing social issues. Like the stories I write, the ones I watch need to have a happy ending, so almost every movie I see would qualify as “feel-good.”

This said, I don’t like to rank the movies I watch, as so much time elapses between them. I’d say I sit through an average of one or two complete movies per year. So I’m going to say that my favorite feel-good movie is the last one I’ve seen. And since hubby and I are not eager to join movie-goers at the theaters, we’re limited to what is available on the small screen.

A few weeks ago, my hubby was complaining (as he zipped through the hundreds of channels available on our cable plan) that there was nothing good on. I asked for the remote and was pleasantly surprised when he handed it over. A week or two prior to this, I’d seen an ad for a Netflix movie called Enola Holmes, based on the book series by Nancy Springer featuring the younger sister of Sherlock Holmes, and since I’d begun reading the Stoker and Holmes steampunk series that I featured last week, it caught my eye. So I took the remote and switched over to our Netflix account and found the movie. 

Since hubby doesn’t often enjoy shows with historical settings, I fully expected him to fall asleep while I watched, but to my surprise, he enjoyed the story and watched the entire movie. There is definitely a “feel good” vibe to me, as Enola finds her happiness in a non-traditional way. 

Here is the storyline, from IMDB: England, 1884 – a world on the brink of change. On the morning of her 16th birthday, Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) wakes to find that her mother (Helena Bonham Carter) has disappeared, leaving behind an odd assortment of gifts but no apparent clue as to where she’s gone or why. After a free-spirited childhood, Enola suddenly finds herself under the care of her brothers Sherlock (Henry Cavill) and Mycroft (Sam Claflin), both set on sending her away to a finishing school for “proper” young ladies. Refusing to follow their wishes, Enola escapes to search for her mother in London. But when her journey finds her entangled in a mystery surrounding a young runaway Lord (Louis Partridge), Enola becomes a super-sleuth in her own right, outwitting her famous brother as she unravels a conspiracy that threatens to set back the course of history. (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7846844/, retrieved 10.14.20)

The cast is wonderful: Millie Bobby Brown is well-cast as the resolute and resourceful Enola. Henry Cavill, as Enola’s brother Sherlock, is no hardship to watch. He shows a softer side of the detective, not usually seen in other portrayals. Sam Clafin is believably distant as Mycroft Holmes, and Helena Bonham Carter is wonderful as Eudoria Holmes (Enola’s mother), although most of her scenes are flashbacks. Louis Partridge as Lord Tewkesbury is a little too pretty for my taste, but I’m sure he’s eye candy for the younger set.

My favorite line in the movie (and the reason this is a feel-good movie to me) has to be toward the end, when Sherlock Holmes walks into Scotland Yard and explains how he solved the mystery, and Inspector Lestrade asks the great detective, “How did your sister get there before you?” To me, that lines speaks volumes – the Inspector sees Enola as a skilled investigator in her own right. Sherlock’s reaction to that knowledge is equally telling, as he leaves Scotland Yard with a smile and a cheer for his sister’s success. 

Advertisement