Review of Mr. Holmes (2015) by Leon B — 01 Nov 2015

Review:

It felt a bit weird watching a near to death Sherlock Holmes who is loosing his memory, because I'm used to seeing Robert Downey Jr. kick butt, with quick wit and immense intelligence. Benedict Cumberbatch also plays a young Sherlock Holmes in the TV series, which is very popular with audiences but this movie wasn't really about deep investigating or Holmes piecing together mind blowing clues. Its more about an older Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) who is suffering with memory lose and is finding it hard to remember his last case, which he has decided to write about. His home help, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), lives with Holmes with her young son Roger (Milo Parker) and Holmes soon realises that he also has a gift to piece together clues, after he secretly went into his study and read one of his case files. They then create an unbreakable bond and Roger helps Holmes with his colony of bees on a daily basis. We then see various flashbacks of Sherlock Holmes last case while he is piecing together his memory, with the help of Roger. Now that Holmes is retired and living in a secluded area in Sussex, he's become a bit of a grumpy old man but he still has the amazing ability to look deeper into any situation, which fascinates Roger. When his mother decides to take on another job somewhere else, it really upsets her son and Holmes who is coming close to closing the unsolved case about a woman who has become distraught after losing 2 children during pregnancy. Her husband soon realises that she is in desperate need of something to keep her busy, so he suggests that she should take up playing a glass harmonica, which is known to have witchcraft abilities. Anyway, her husband soon forbids her from playing the harmonica but he is still getting receipts for lessons that, she says, she hasn't been attending. Holmes then follows her to see what she is really up to and he soon realises that all is not what it seems. It wasn't the most puzzling case that I have seen Holmes crack and I didn't really see the point of the trip to China. I also found the pace of the film to be extremely slow and boring in parts but I liked the chemistry between Roger and Holmes. As there wasn't any murders involved or any mysterious disappearances, the movie just felt a bit bland and uninteresting. McKellen puts in a top performance, as usual but I was expecting much more from this somewhat, one toned movie that could have been much better if the cases were interesting. Disappointing but watchable!

Round-Up:

This movie was directed by Bill Condon, 60, who brought you top movies like God's & Monsters, which also starred Ian McKellen, Kinsey with Liam Neeson, Dreamgirls with Eddie Murphy, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 1 & 2 and the Fifth Estate starring Benedict Cumberbatch. He really has made various types of movies which have covered many different genres and he is in the process in bringing Beauty and the Beast to the big screen with Emma Watson in the lead and Ewan Mcgregor, Ian McKellen, Luke Evans, Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci and Kevin Kline in the cast. Guaranteed Blockbuster! Anyway, I can't really imagine a better actor to play an older Sherlock Holmes than Ian McKellen, but the script was dull. Laura Linney also played her role well alongside the young Milo Parker, who looks just like the boy who played Liam Neesons son in Love Actually. Basically, I would have liked to have seen Sherlock Holmes go out in a blaze of glory, except for being stuck in a house, not remembering all of the amazing crimes that he has solved.

Budget: N/A.

Worldwide Gross: $25.5million.

I recommend this movie to people who are into their mystery/drama's starring Ian McKellen, Laura Linney and Hiroyuki Sanada. 4/10.