I have been a fan of filmmaker and author Nicholas Meyer since he exploded into my consciousness as the creative force behind the best Star Trek film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. His other films include Time After Time, The Deceivers, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and many others.  Among the films he has written The Seven Percent Solution is one I have wanted to see for years and  years. Unavailable on DVD, I have been patiently waiting for its release. By a stroke of good fortune I learned that HBO Now had it on their menu of on-demand movie this month and together with my sweetie-wife we watched it.han

The film is set during the period when Holmes (Nichol Williamson) is believed dead, but it actually starts just prior to that. Watson (Robert Duvall) is happy married to mary and is suddenly summoned to Holmes’ side. Holmes is suffering from a paranoid attack brought on my his abuse fo cocaine. Fearing for his friend’s life Watson engages the assistance of Holmes’ brother Mycroft (Charles Gray) and the collude to bring Holmes to the only doctor who might break his addiction, Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin.)

This film plays within the cannon, but also breaks the cannon, providing an alternative explanation for Holmes’ disappearance after his final confrontation with Professor Moriarity (Lawrence Olivier.) There is a light-hearted tone to the film though not as comical as Billy Wilder’s The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Overall it was enjoyable to watch and I adored Nichol Williamson as Holmes. (Many fans will know him as Merlin from John Borman’s Excalibur.) Alan Arkin is fine as the famous Freud, and most of the cast perform their roles competently. Sadly Duvall’s English accent is a terrible affront to the ears and grated on me throughout the movie.

If you have HBO and its on-demand services it is certainly worth a go.