Above:
Ian McKellen is Sherlock in Mr. Condon’s new film. Photo ©Miramax and Roadside Attractions
By now, it’s safe to say that Sherlock
Holmes has become a staple of Western culture. “The Guinness Book of World
Records” lists Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s master sleuth as “the most portrayed
movie character,” having been played by over seventy actors in more than 200
films—to say nothing of his appearances in subsequent novels, television shows,
graphic novels, video games, and nearly every other form of media in the world.
Each one of these adaptations draws
from different parts of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s source material and presents
their own unique take on the world’s greatest detective, particularly those of
recent years. Guy Ritchie’s blockbuster
films highlighted Holmes as a pugilist and a pioneer action hero; BBC’s
“Sherlock” plays up Holmes’s alienation from the rest of humanity as a
socially-stunted, egotistical savant; and ABC’s “Elementary” focuses on
Holmes’s drug use and presents him as a recovering addict.
So how does Bill Condon’s “Mr. Holmes”
paint the consulting detective? As an
old man; a former luminary who can’t live up to his own celebrity, who finds
himself full of regret in his twilight years. And by reimagining the character this way, Mr.
Condon and his stellar cast and crew depict a new version of Holmes that feels
both familiar and totally enthralling.
Adapted from the 2005 novel “A Slight
Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin, “Mr. Holmes” takes place in 1947. A 93-year-old Sherlock Holmes (Sir Ian
McKellen) has left 221B Baker Street behind for a remote farmhouse in Sussex
where his only companions are his housekeeper Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), her
son Roger (Milo Parker), and the bees in his apiary. As Holmes and Roger form an unlikely bond with
each other, Holmes tries to write down the story of his last case in
London—partially as a counter to the sensationalist penny dreadfuls John Watson
published about him, and partially to remember what was it about this last case
that caused him to leave his profession and become a recluse full of regret.
“Mr. Holmes” divorces itself from much
of the Sherlock lore that we’ve grown accustomed to. Watson, Mycroft Holmes, and Mrs. Hudson have
all passed away by now and are only glimpsed in flashbacks; no mention is made
of James Moriarty, Inspector Lestrade, Irene Adler, or the Baker Street
Irregulars. This is a story uniquely
about Sherlock Holmes, about him not quite matching the fantastical persona
Watson gave him in his books, about him leaving behind a lifetime of great
adventures, and about him dealing with the loss of his most valuable gift: his
mind. The nonagenarian Holmes is going
senile, and the struggle to kick-start his memories so he can be at peace with
his own past becomes the through line in the film.
As far as the performances go, “Mr.
Holmes” leans heavily on its small but no less terrific cast. Sir Ian McKellen is by now one of our
generation’s best actors and it's no surprise that his Holmes is absolutely
spot on. Whereas most versions of the
character give actors the chance to be intelligent and cocky and smarmy, Sir
Ian’s Sherlock is one defined by immense loneliness. His friends have passed on and he now feels
their absence more than ever. He’s still
brusque and occasionally condescending to people, but it’s less out of malice
than thoughtlessness.
If there’s any problem with the film,
it’s that it’s a rather small one. Despite
starring a larger-than-life icon of fiction (an indeed, hinging on both the
character and his legacy), the story is about growing up and growing old—not
exactly the world-shattering adventures one might expect from the world’s
greatest detective. However, “Mr.
Holmes” is still engaging thanks to the actors, Mr. Condon’s directing, and a
sharp, well-paced script from Jeffrey Hatcher.
Two mysteries play out in “Mr. Holmes.”
One, taking place in the present, is a
minor inquiry that adds stakes to the third act but ultimately exists as a
bonding exercise between Holmes and Roger. The other is the question of what exactly
Holmes’ last case was and why it broke him so. The result of these stories is a tragic, but
no less satisfying tale that could only be about Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock may be a character so ingrained in
popular culture that we as the audience think that we know everything about
him, but “Mr. Holmes” manages to introduce us to the world’s greatest detective
all over again.
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