Mr. Holmes Movie Blurb by Shale July 30, 2015 This was a movie I was anticipating, being into Sherlock Holmes on screen for years (not counting all the Basil Rathbone movies of the '40s). My favorite is the Jeremy Brett portrayal in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on PBS in the States or ITV network in the UK. Well, that is until the current show Elementary with Jonny Lee Miller & Lucy Liu, which is a modern-day Holmes in NYC, with all the elements of the Arthur Conan Doyle characters. But this movie is unique as it covers the end years of an ageing retired Mr. Holmes (Ian McKellen) in his country estate in Sussex England. The year is 1947 and Holmes is 93 years old. (I did some research and this is consistent with canon - Holmes was born in 1854). He has just returned home from Japan where he has smuggled in a prickly ash plant, which he hopes has properties better than royal jelly for restoring his memory, as he is experiencing senility. He lives in the home with his housekeeper Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney) and her son Roger (Milo Parker), whom Holmes takes an interest in as a bright and inquisitive boy. Mr. Holmes & Mrs. Munro While Holmes was traveling to Japan, the inquisitive Roger did some snooping in his room, which Holmes quickly surmised. The boy was aware that Holmes was writing about one of his cases and during the time while helping the ageing man with his bee keeping, actually encouraged him to finish the story. Beekeeping with Roger Holmes has always been critical of his friend, Dr. John Watson's account of his cases as being too romanticized and is attempting to reconstruct an accurate telling of his last case to set it right. However, he goes thru bouts of memory blank (writing the names on his shirt cuffs of ppl he must remember) and it is an arduous task. Holmes is also having difficulties with daily living activities and Mrs. Munro is rather pushy about restricting his activities. But, he and Roger conspire to get around her meddling. Roger & Holmes Back from Swimming In flashback we see the story unfold of Holmes' last case and why it had such a personal impact on him. Mr. Holmes Working Last Case This was a fine drama set around the waning years of a great detective as he struggled against senility to finish one more case to his satisfaction. It may be unique as a portrayal of the traditional Sherlock Holmes still around in the mid 20th Century. Of course Ian McKellen gave a great performance as did Laura Linney and Milo Parker. I think it would be a must see for anyone into Sherlock Holmes stories. It was well received by the aggregate critics on Rotten Tomatoes at 87% fresh and 78% of audiences liked it.
I love Sherlock Holmes and find all these different movie adaptions fascinating and interesting. This one seems no exception. Of all those newer Holmes portrayals I am only appalled by the action movies with Robert Downey jr. as it is simply very clear Sherlock Holmes is not a fighting action hero. I don't see how that direction fits this classic character and his stories.
Agreed. While I have gone to the Downey Action Holmes movies (and still have the DVDs tucked away somewhere) they are a deviation from the classic 19th Century stories and are on a par with the Wild Wild West movie of unbelievable mechanical marvels of evil.
I usually can appreciate Robert Downey's acting very well. And I am not that opposed to over the top action movies either (although they are far from my fav movie genre), but yeah... Sherlock Holmes is an archetype. The detective unstoppable because of his wit, and really not because of his fists About Wild wild west, at least that had a lot of well executed humour in it (makes an over the top action movie much bearable for me) But yes, that mechanical spider (among other unbelievable technology, like those decapitating magnets) was a bit too much. Also that evil southern guy in his weelchair was too over the top to even be funny anymore (to me!).
