Mr. Holmes

This BBC film has an aged Sherlock Holmes, in failing health, living in retirement in the country, and trying to remember his last case.

Shakespearian thespian and British Knight, Sir Ian McKellen, plays well, and convincingly, the eponymous detective, both in his later years, and in flashbacks to his last case. The veteran actor had to prepare for the role by learning bee-keeping.

Mr. Holmes lives with a house-keeper and her son. New Yorker Laura Linney plays the house-keeper, fitting in well with the British thespians, and easily, and believably, conveys the circumstances of her character's situation as she interacts with both Mr. Holmes and her son.

The son is played by Milo Parker. His performance is just so breathtakingly superb that it is difficult to sum this up in words. Truly astonishing! Truly great!

Hattie Morahan shows great emotion in her small role, whilst Frances de la Tour's foreigner-role is so brief, but so good! There is a foreign element to the plot, apart from Miss de la Tour that is, that seems superfluous, however it turns out to be a nice sub-plot. The period-detail throughout the film is very good. Sadly, the film is marred by bad lighting and also blurry camera shots as the camera moves. This detracts, and distracts, but not greatly.

Despite it's UK rating of PG, this is not a film for children, but rather is more suitable for adults. There are moving and poignant scenes, and the film deals with matters of life and death. It is also necessarily slow, as the subject matter is the great detective in the Autumn of his years. 8/10.

I genuinely had no idea what to expect from this film as I knew so little about it. OK, so it has Sherlock Holmes as the lead character and I naturally assumed that it would be some crime solving caper. Boy was I wrong, but pleasantly so. The premise of the film is simple - what happens to the famous Sherlock Holmes in his twilight years, if he were to suffer from senility... and no it's not a comedy nor is it a depressing film. It's an evenly-paced, gentle, well-written character study of a fiercely intelligent man trying to hold on to the use of his brilliant mind to recount the details of his final case. If I could use one word to describe this film - contemplative. It's a series of vignettes, each with its own little mystery, all seemingly unconnected at first, until it gradually all comes together. Ian McKellen is, as always, fantastic and perfectly cast in the titular role but the most intriguing character is the subject of Holmes' final case, wonderfully portrayed by Hattie Morahan as Ann Kelmot. Also love the moody soundtrack by Carter Burwell. Very good film, thoughtful with striking images of the British countryside.

Ian McKellen plays Sherlock Holmes as a 60 yo and a 93 yo. Both are excellent as without layers of makeup he gets the physicality of both roles perfect.

This movie is all about Ian McKellen and his acting ability... and it is a masterclass. Laura Linney is fine in this very small cast, though I question whether she was right for the role. Too upright and groomed for a middle aged war widow. Not her fault, but she was meant to be the foil for the son who is bright and full of potential and she is offering to bring him to Portsmouth to follow in her footsteps.

Beautifully shot, lots of external shots and small cast show off the small budget But the acting is superb. Definitely bound to be a favourite in the boutique cinema.

A nicely understated film, which has all the twists of a Holmes story that you might expect, wrapped up in a warm hearted kitchen sink drama about an aged detective, and the relationship between him, his housekeeper and her son. All linked in with bee keeping. The story has a number of strands, but they are all interwoven seamlessly, so you don't become so engrossed about one that you forget the others.

As a standalone film, one of the great charms of Mr. Holmes is that it can be viewed with equal level of enjoyment by two different types of people: the type who know nothing other than the basics regarding the character of Sherlock Holmes, and equally the people who have seen or read everything about him. It manages to appeal to both camps by being both a revisionist version of his stories, yet still keeping in the same spirit and not denying any of the prior literature.

Due to the fact that the film's metronome is a 93-year-old man losing his memory, the pace is unfortunately slow for the first half of the film. Having multiple flashbacks that omit information until necessary keeps the viewer guessing but also at times frustrated. In the meantime, the real entertainer is Sir Ian McKellen, who is not nearly as old as his character is in real life and yet captures the nuances of someone that age to precision, all while forming his own character of the titular Holmes. It's one I hope can make its way into the Oscar conversation yet is so much simpler I won't count on it.

The second half of the film picks up in pace as the 3 story lines all begin to start solving themselves, but more importantly Mr. Holmes (I don't think his first name is ever uttered in this movie) starts to realize a moral that he never quite came to terms with in all of his sleuthing regarding the truth and humanity. I've seen a solid handful of the countless Sherlock Holmes incarnations (he is the most commonly portrayed character in cinema) and there is something that becomes almost tragic about each one as you realize he is someone whose intelligence and wit makes him unable to live normally amongst other 'ordinary' people. As some subtext, it is perhaps a nice touch that Mr. McKellen is a proud member of the LGBT community, as there is reason to believe (although rarely outwardly said) that Sherlock Holmes may be gay himself. These are details you don't need to watch the story but can help enhance the nuance.

In terms of filmmaking, director Bill Condon and co. don't particularly do anything to motivate the situation other that just let the characters take care of business. Again, this is not a movie notable for having a quick pace, but it is never dull altogether either. The next movie I'll be watching is Gods and Monsters, the previous Condon/McKellen collaboration.

As you can see from how much I've written, I'm fond of the movie, enjoyed the numerous elements, and was left with a lot to think about. It's a small scale film and should be viewed as such, but is nonetheless enjoyable and is a nice spin on the iconic character.