When the lights first came up during the ending credits, I confess myself to have been disappointed. I've been spoiled by the several incarnations of our favorite sleuth in recent film and television, and frankly I enjoy those versions' speed, wit, and energy. I knew this film would have little, if any, of that, but I was still a little fidgety in the auditorium as I watched the old man slowly crossing the screen before me.
But the film has not left my mind since I saw it, and I realize now that it might be the most fascinating movie I've seen all summer. Screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher (and original author Mitch Cullin) and director Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls, The Fifth Estate) have done something remarkable with the character of Sherlock Holmes and his world. They have made it understated. In fact, everything in the film is so marvelously nuanced and calm that it's quite easy to miss the calculated beauty and intrigue. And, as I continue to reflect on the work, that is precisely what makes the film so memorable.
And, of course, Ian McKellan is astonishing as an old man fighting to regain his memory and solve his last case. But for all of us who love Holmes will attest, "the case" isn't really his only intellectual pursuit. This film weaves together three completely different cases, all centering on Holmes: These are not cases that he is simply solving, but rather cases in which he himself is complicit. One concerns his last professional case, involving a mysterious woman who has lost her children. One involves a Japanese man who harbors a secret animosity toward the man he believes stole his father away. And one involves Holmes's housekeeper, who is displeased with her situation, and her son, who develops an intimate friendship with the old man.
McKellan is carried back and forth in time and place by our filmmakers, and he carries the weight (and makeup) of it admirably. His eyes, often staring into space to search for something beyond our comprehension, show the sadness, the perception, the love, and, as he himself declares, the regret in his life. He seems to effortlessly play the part of a dying old man, and yet his vigor and passion shines brightest when he shares scenes with the young boy (Milo Parker) who lives with him. The two are matches for each other in curiosity and excitement, and seeing the care with which they treat each other pulls at your heartstrings like you won't believe.
There are certainly other jewels in the cast -- notably with Laura Linney and Frances de la Tour -- but none have enough screen time to capture our attention. Rather, we follow Holmes as he navigates his own foggy memories and see how they hamper his daily activities. We see flashbacks in the way he himself might, with images that fly across the screen that don't make sense until much later in the picture. When, about three-quarters of the way through the film, Holmes remembers/solves one of his cases, I thought for sure the rest of the film would be a melodramatic descent into tragedy as we saw the now "successful" detective lose his mind entirely.
Instead, the last quarter of the film digs still deeper into his character. He shares his regrets and his frustrations, and he articulately reveals the one problem that forever eluded him. We also see how he has been attempting to solve that problem with his housekeeper and her son, and we ultimately see him grapple with it until he gains victory. I could have never seen this movie's climax coming. More important, I don't think Mr. Holmes could have. But Condon puts together all the pieces of this immense puzzle into such an elaborate pattern that it will take me several viewings to appreciate all the subtleties in this picture.
And, happily, this movie ends with an uplifting sensation that reduced me to a blubbering mess. I mean, how many films about old people -- especially old heroes -- end with anything but death or, maybe worse, loss of self (I'm thinking of The Iron Lady, and how it ends with a haunting look at isolation and a retrograde situation)? But this is a celebration of sorts of life, curiosity, caring for others, and coping with a haunted past.
If you like mindless blockbuster entertainment, you may want to pass this one up. Mr. Holmes is anything but elementary.
IMDb: Mr. Holmes
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