Mr. Holmes

It is 1947 and Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) has returned from Japan to his country home in England.  He is greeted by Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney) and her son, Roger.  Mr. Holmes has been retired for approximately 30 years, having spent the time maintaining bees in the countryside and, as of late, going senile.  Shortly after the death of his brother Mycroft, he had dared to see a Sherlock Holmes movie, something he had never done.  There were elements that seemed familiar but there was something wrong in it.  He knew this was a retelling of his last case as written by John Watson but he could not recall the truth.

 

The movie tells three stories.  There is the case of The Lady in Grey, his final case and cause of his retirement.  There is his trip to Japan which turned out to be more than it appeared.  Then there is the case of the dead bees in the apiary.  Holmes is 93 years old and frail.  The first plays like a man with amnesia trying to remember something vital to the plot.  It struck me as unlikely that he would forget the case that led to his retirement.  In theory, every time he used his keen observational skills over the last three decades, he would be reminded of why he was no longer using them to solve mysteries.  He demonstrated repeatedly that his deductive powers were still very keen despite his age.  It would have been better had some obscure case become suddenly important in the present.  Holmes had traveled to Japan to acquire a rare plant that was supposedly beneficial in fighting senility.  Why he had to go personally rather than just purchase the plant is never explained.  However, the plant was to be found in Hiroshima, inside the blast radius of the atom bomb.  Really?  And Holmes has the opportunity to look horrified upon seeing the destruction.  Why is this in the movie?  Lastly, Holmes becomes close to Roger, who is a very bright boy who is fascinated by Mr. Holmes.  Roger is only too happy to assist with the apiary and ponder why bees are dying.

 

This is not a standard Sherlock Holmes story.  He solves nothing by means of deduction.  In fact, deduction is shown to be a parlor trick that may provide knowledge but does not provide satisfactory solutions.  In both the Lady in Grey case and his trip to Japan, his deductions are perfect but those who hear them are not consoled by them.  Cold logic is cold and these people needed warmth.  Holmes is made to feel guilty for not being a therapist.  Having read all of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, I have to say that Holmes was not a sentimental man.  He was usually an arrogant jerk but his brilliance mitigated his abrasiveness.  Of course, Mr. Holmes reveals that Watson had written a fictional version of him which offers an explanation why this Holmes seems so different.

 

Take it or leave it.