One of the great challenges of summer movie going is the dearth of 'intelligent' films. You can go and see any number of blockbuster films with super heroes, explosions, aliens, or cute cartoon characters but try to find a well acted, well written, small budget film and you might as well stay home. Imagine my joy when I saw a few articles about the new Ian McKellen film - Mr. Holmes a few weeks back. Then there were crickets. This was not a film people were talking about amongst the openings of Mission Impossible, Trainwreck, and Pixels. Heck, the film wasn't even in wide release!
We finally found a nearby theatre showing it and went to a showing yesterday. All I can say is it is a shame that more folks aren't talking about this film!
Mr. Holmes is a new twist on the world's most famous detective. Set in 1947, an aging Sherlock Holmes returns from a journey to Japan, where, in search of a rare plant with powerful restorative qualities, he has witnessed the devastation of nuclear warfare. Now, in his remote seaside farmhouse, Holmes faces the end of his days tending to his bees, with only the company of his housekeeper and her young son, Roger. Grappling with the diminishing powers of his mind, Holmes comes to rely upon the boy as he revisits the circumstances of the case that forced him into retirement, and searches for answers to the mysteries of life and love.
We sat back and watched as Sherlock Holmes tackles the forgotten case. Suffering from Alzheimer's, Holmes seeks to remember the case that ended his career as the world's premier sleuth. Ian McKellen puts on an Oscar-worthy performance as Holmes, living alone in a seaside home with only his housekeeper and her son; tending to his bees. There are no thrills here involving big dogs or evil criminal masterminds like Professor Moriarty; but a tense, suspenseful and moving story, well shot and well directed. I liked it a lot.
Watson and Mrs Hudson are blurs in the background; brother Mycroft (John Sessions), too, gets a bit part. Holmes’s main companions are his Dover housekeeper, Mrs Munro (Laura Linney), and her son Roger, played in a very solid, unaffected turn by the young British actor Milo Parker.
There’s nothing about the film that Conan Doyle fans, McKellen fans, Linney fans, and anyone partial to a well played score won’t relish. TV Sherlock fans – not necessarily the same crowd – may miss its jumped-up speed and ingenuity. This is Holmes intentionally slowed down to a hobbling, reflective, end-of-life pace. It’s a film to rummage around in, picking up old clues, considering their meaning, and turning them in your palm.
McKellen not only is ideally cast but he is pure perfection in the role, as you might expect. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is another Oscar nomination in his future for his work. This is not the Sherlock Holmes with the deerstalker hat and pipe that you have come to expect. The portrayal is of a more quiet, introspective man in the sunset of his years, but it is no less engaging and McKellen just nails it. So does the wonderful Laura Linney in a role that could have been a stereotyped housekeeper but instead is a fully dimensional woman trying to keep her own life together bringing up a child on her own after losing her husband in the war. Her scenes opposite McKellen are pure gems. It’s a breath of fresh air to watch two such accomplished pros working with this level of material.
This, like Gods And Monsters the last film McKellen worked on with director Bill Condon, is a small, independently made film that is the perfect summer antidote to the weekly blockbusters to which we are subjected. Sometimes smaller is much better. This is one that shoots straight for the heart and mind.
I'll keep my eyes open at our local Library or the town just to the south of us. I get DVD from our libraries.
I just finish watching "Spitfire Grill" which I enjoyed.
Coffee is on
Posted by: peppylady (Dora) | August 09, 2015 at 11:34 AM