Mr Holmes The Oldest Sherlock Holmes Ever

I don’t think we’ve ever seen Sherlock Holmes presented as old as he is in Mr. Holmes. We join him at the age of 93, three decades after he retired from solving mysteries, with his memory beginning to fail him. The film probably would have worked better if it had just focused on this – on a man having to come to terms with his greatest asset, his mind, starting to deteriorate; on a complete debunking of the myths surrounding his fame; on the interactions between him and a young admirer. We get all of that here, but unfortunately we also have to flash back to the mystery that ended his career. The problem with this is not inherent to the premise, which sees Holmes (Ian McKellen) trying to write the true story of this case – not the fictionalized and romanticized version that his partner, Dr. Watson, published. However, his memory is failing, so he only winds up recalling so much at a time. Whenever he does, we flash back to 30 years earlier and get a few more bits and pieces of the case. In theory, this could work; in practice, it ruins the pacing of the film. Still, at least there’s an attempt – an effort – to do something different. It’s not just a typical Sherlock Holmes mystery, of which we’ve had conservatively three trillion adaptations. It wants to be deeper. It wants to be a morality tale. And it also wants to deliver to us a relatively compelling mystery. You can tell the effort and the love was there; it just didn’t quite work out. Is the movie still entertaining? For the most part, sure. Does it also have a glaring problem that keeps it from being great? Yes, it does. But it’s not from a lack of ambition or effort. It never feels cynical or as if it was telling the story to cash in on the name “Sherlock Holmes.” The filmmakers wanted to deliver a different take on the character, and even though it’s not a complete success, they did just that. Bottom Line: Only a moderate success thanks to a flashback technique that fails it, Mr. Holmes offers a different take on its eponymous character – although unfortunately not a great one. Recommendation: Fans of Ian McKellen or Sherlock Holmes will want to check out Mr. Holmes; for most other people, it won’t be worth the watch. [rating=3]