Movie Review: Mr Holmes

Drama/Mystery

Rated - PG

Duration – 104mins

Release – July 2015

Director – Bill Condon

Cast – Ian McKellan, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada, Milo Parker

Mr Knight

A little slow to start but warming toward its end, Mr Holmes takes you into the life of a retired and aging Sherlock Holmes. Still famed in London, Holmes has moved from his well known 221B Baker Street and now tends to his bees with house keeper Mrs Munro and her son Roger in a large estate in the English countryside.The story follows a mixture of themes, first taking you into the grim reality of age and a once brilliant mind slowly slipping away, with Holmes pursuing any means to return his memory. Next an old mystery comes back to haunt Holmes and with the help of his enthusiastic housekeepers son Roger, he puts the pieces together.

Then the story deepens on an emotional level with the relationship between an elderly great and an enthusiastic and inspired boy and the gruff and realistic Mrs Munro, played by Laura Linney.

McKellan is brilliant dragging you into his world as a man dealing with what he once was and his crippling age slowly bringing him back to earth. Milo Parker, the young Roger is also a joy to watch with a quick wit and cheeky sense of humour.

For the diehard Holmes fans your expectation of a brilliant crime mystery will leave you begging. If it’s the world famous skill of deduction that his character shows in the critically acclaimed BBC’s Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, or Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law’s Sherlock Holmes films that you came to see, you will also only get a small and unsatisfying taste.

Watson is also left at the door in this flick with the storey solely focused on Shelock. The film is humbling and Ian McKellan still makes you feel for his character and his circumstances but if you came for quick wit, action, mystery and murder this isn’t the film for you. If you prefer a nice, real life tale that goes well with a cup of tea and scotch finger biscuit then Mr Holmes will not disappoint.


 

Mrs Knight 

Mr Holmes had all the right elements to make for a winning film including mystery, familiar characters and brilliant acting under the direction of Bill Condon. Despite this, it fell short for me as I found it slow and that it lacked the quick wit and twists I expect for a Sherlock Holmes film.

We see Holmes (Ian McKellan) as an aged, retired man, who is looking back over his life. He is in the care of a housekeeper, Mrs Munroe (Laura Linney) and her son, Roger (Milo Parker). Roger is fascinated by Sherlock Holmes and his stories. They bond over beekeeping and an unsolved case that Holmes is struggling to come to grips with. We see this friendship strengthen through the film, much like a grandfather and grandson relationship. Both Ian McKellan and Milo Parker were a joy to watch and McKellan did an exceptional job of carrying the film.

While it lacked in the usual flair of a Sherlock Holmes film, it was interesting to see the familiar character take a different more solemn path. If you’re craving action, this one might not be for you.