Mr. Holmes

Dir: Bill Condon

2015

***

I'm rather split down the middle with Mr. Holmes, the 2015 adaptation of Mitch Cullin's 2005 novel A Slight Trick of the Mind. I have issue with writers meddling with fictional characters that are not their own, although I have enjoyed such ventures in the past. One man's positive is another man's negative, I admire this honest look at a retired and rather elderly Sherlock Holmes but this isn't the Arthur Conan Doyle character that I, and many others, fell in love with. I enjoyed Guy Richie's 2009 and 2011 versions, I love 1985's Young Sherlock Holmes and I'm quite fond of Basil the Great Mouse Detective, none of these films are 100% authentic either but the big difference is that they had to be about the great detective in order to work, while Mr. Holmes, broken down, could have been written about anyone. Essentially the story is of an aging man (93 years old) who has a few memories to revisit, a few lessons left to learn and has a few thing he needs to put right before he can rest. It really could have been attached to many an array of characters but the name Sherlock Holmes surely sold a lot of books and put many bums on seats. I don't have a problem with this at all, I just missed the beautiful language of the originals. The story does explore the myth and the reality of the character which is interesting, you almost start believing that he was indeed a real person. I missed the true detective work, there are a few examples but they are rather simplistic, such is the nature of the film. The film's real strength is the remarkable performance from Sir Ian McKellen. He harnesses his inner John Gielgud and gives the character a truly original take. The supporting cast are also impressive, with great performances from Laura Linney, Hattie Morahan and young Milo Parker as well as other short but sweet appearances from Roger Allam and John Sessions. Nicholas Rowe's cameo as a screen actor playing Holmes in a scene whereby Sherlock watches one of the last films made about he and Watson has to be my favourite cameo of the year. Subtle and rather gentle, it's actually quite a refreshing tale but it left me wanting to watch one of the classics, which I'm not sure is a good or bad sign really.