MR HOLMES (2015)

An aged, retired Sherlock Holmes looks back on his life, and grapples with an unsolved case involving a beautiful woman. — IMDB

This is a delightful little movie, done in the inimitable British style, about Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen), suffering from holes in his memory as he ages, feeling guilty about a case in which he failed. Now he wants to come to terms with it but he can’t remember all the details of the case. With the help of his housekeeper’s son, Roger (Milo Parker), he starts to piece the past together. The script is excellent, especially the dialogue between Holmes and Roger that explores themes of friendship and mentoring between the aged and the young. McKellen is outstanding as Holmes and Parker plays the boy very well. The cinematography of the English countryside is very pleasing on the eye. MR HOLMES is a fresh take on the Sherlock Holmes character. Overall, though, the movie is quite old-fashioned and has none of the darker aspects or emotional thrills of Holmes’s character and stories found in other tellings. It’s also pretty slow in pace. But it is a pleasant, undemanding piece of cinema – enjoyable.