Mr. Homes is an engagingly subtle and endearingly sweet twist on the Sherlock Holmes lore, complete with a fantastic performance by Sir Ian McKellen as its title character. The film (based on the book A Slight Trick of the Mind) tells a somewhat self-referential tale where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never existed, yet his books and films do. Here it’s the flesh and bones Dr. Watson who wrote the famous detective novels based upon his equally real colleague’s (Sherlock Holmes) detective cases—the stories all inflated to make the cases more dramatic. Set in the late 1940s, the great detective is now an elderly, frail man (93 to be exact) with an ever-growing fuzzy memory. In his late years, Holmes tries writing a non-exaggerated depiction of his final case, the very one that put an abrupt end to his detective career 30 years ago. The only problem is Holmes’ memory, which has gotten so bad he needs to write names of familiar faces on his sleeves as reminders. Roger (Milo Parker), a young housekeeper’s son fascinated with Holmes’ stories, grows close to the detective, assisting him in trying to remember the past case.
True to a Sherlock Holmes story, there are several intriguing mysteries throughout the film, all which end up far more engaging than expected from Mr. Holmes’ low-key setting. The film blends its mysteries with rich scenery, discreet humor, poignant reminiscence, and a compelling performance from Sir Ian McKellen. Whether it’s playing the flashbacked detective still in his prime or the current old and frail Holmes, McKellen succeeds in sophistication, wit, melancholy, and even effective character growth. The film plays out similar to a tragedy, and from such approach I expected the film to end on a very sad note—rather, Mr. Holmes ends on a very touching conclusion that surprises with unexpected, yet very satisfying character development. For such a modest story of the great detective, Mr. Holmes’ direction, passion, and lead actor’s remarkable performance makes it a compellingly satisfying epilogue to the character of Sherlock Holmes.
