Mr. Holmes is not a big summer blockbuster. It is a smaller film made by Miramax and BBC Films. I didn't know this film was coming out, but about a month ago I saw a trailer for it while seeing another movie and was intrigued. The basis of the film is that it shows Sherlock Holmes trying to solve a few mysteries later in his life.
In actuality, Mr. Holmes follows three separate but interconnecting story lines. The film starts off with a 90+ year old Sherlock returning from a trip to his country home with his live-in housekeeper, Mrs. Munro, and her young son Roger, who is about 10-12 years old. He develops a bond with Roger over their mutual interest in bee keeping. As the film progresses it is revealed that Sherlock is suffering from a disease like Alzheimer's which is causing him to quickly loose parts of his memories, forget peoples' names, and whole conversations and that he is trying to stave off the effects for as long as he can so he can write the story of his final case as to correct the many fallacies that Dr. Watson included in his publications. This is one of the three storylines. The second unfolds as he remembers parts of his final case which occurred decades earlier. This storyline reveals what happened and what caused Sherlock to stop solving cases and move to the country in exile. The third storyline revolves the complex relationship he has with Roger and his mother. He is fond of the boy and encourages him to follow his interests and learn as much as he can and be observant of the world around him. Roger eagerly works with Sherlock follows his advice. This causes friction between Roger and his mother and between the mother and Sherlock as she believes Sherlock is a bad influence on her son.
By the end of the movie, Sherlock has remembered his final case and the reasons why he quit and went into hiding, he has come to terms with his deteriorating mind, and mended his relationship with Roger and Mrs. Munro, and finally learns the valuable social skills needed for interpersonal interaction that he lacked when he was younger.
This is a wonderful movie. Ian McKellen is great in this role. The way he portray's Sherlock Holmes is exactly how I would have envisioned him in his later years. He played him perfectly. It was some of the best casting I have seen in a movie this year. He was great. I like him a lot better as Sherlock than Robert Downy Jr. who was really fun too. The best modern Sherlock is still Benedict Cumberbatch, but McKellen was spectacular. Laura Linney was also really good in this movie. She plays Mrs. Munro and her character growth is wonderful. She does a great job portraying the characters changes over the course of the movie. She really does a great job evoking emotion from the audience and is really memorable. Milo Parker stole the show though. He plays the young boy Roger who befriends Sherlock. It is not an easy task to work alongside a great like Ian McKellen and hold your own and Milo does this wonderfully. You really like watching this character and pull for him to learn from Sherlock and climb higher than his social status traditionally would allow. When he argues with his mother and yells at her he plays the emotional roller coaster it sets him on with ease. You see his character grow and learn and plays a positive influence on both Sherlock and his mother. I really liked him and really succeeded in the critical role he played in the film.
Overall this movie is really good. It has a well thought out and executed story. It has really good characters and fantastic actors playing the roles. The director does a great job switching seamlessly between the different storylines and the different time periods. Set design was really good and Ian McKellen's make-up for this film was great. They made him look two different ages and if it wasn't successful the movie would have not been as believable. If you like movies and are looking for a quiet movie instead of the loud, bombastic summer blockbuster than this is the movie for you. My final rating of the film is 3.75/5.
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