There is always a danger in reclaiming icons for new uses. "Robin and Marion" was a well done but discouraging story of Robin Hood and Maid Marion in decline, their heroism on the run. "Hook" showed Peter Pan beset by adulthood without any of the charm of youth. "Mr. Holmes" shows Sherlock Holmes in two older phases of his life, in his 60s and his 90s, filled with regret and beset by forgetfulness and confusion.
Perhaps there is some study to be made when a culture revisits and reassesses its heroes.
“Mr. Holmes” tells three separate stories. The 90 year old Holmes (Ian McKellen) is living in seclusion in a small cottage with his housekeeper, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney), a war widow, and her young son, Roger (Milo Parker). He recalls two stories in flashback. One, in London just after World War I, Holmes investigates the suspicious behavior of a woman (Hattie Morahan) at the request of her husband (Patrick Kennedy). In the other, in Japan after the second war, he meets with an amateur herbalist (Hiroyuki Sanada) under insincere circumstances. The fabric of the story is Holmes' struggles with his old age, his declining memory and his regrets.
This is a well done period piece with terrific scenery and performances. McKellen is extremely good, as is Linney (from "John Adams") who for some reason not easily discernible got some criticism for this role. There is some awkward and inexplicable plotting--perhaps to make this less a mystery and more a character study. And its resolution is quite lovely, if small.
It is a clever idea, this take on Holmes. Time has, despite his failing, made him more specific, more real and accurate. But unless you are Shakespeare, there is little that redeems the mistake of senescence close up.
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