There is no denying of the renewed interest in Sherlock Holmes in recent times, and by now the audience has seen more than a dozen portrayals of the character from the determined Basil Rathbone to the eccentric Jeremy Brett or Benedict Cumberbatch's modern day interpretation. Being the fan of the character that I am, I was particularly interested to see Sir Ian Mckellen as an old grumpy Sherlock (I mean Gandalf/Magneto, sure!) in a more personally driven story than most of his adventures. Though the film presents a very interesting premise, the overall experience of it all feels a bit, numb.
Sherlock is 93, retired for a considerable number of time now and lives in a small cottage somewhere in the Sussex countryside with his housekeeper Mrs.Munro (Laura Linney) and her son Roger (Milo Parker). Disappointed with Watson's fictionalisation of his last case, he wants to write the accurate account of the case as a last mission but has difficulty recalling the details due to failing memory. All the while forming a relationship with Roger as he seems to express particular interest and aptitude to his methods and his bees.
One of the strong points of this film is that it nails its atmosphere. From the first scene it makes it apparent of its more sombre tone. Director Bill Condon brilliantly expresses how it must feel living a rather inactive life in a picturesque setting. There is some beautiful cinematography and art direction here that it makes it work great as a period piece.
Another strong point of this movie is Sir Ian Mckellen as Sherlock Holmes. The film really concentrates on showing the 'real' Sherlock Holmes behind the literary distortions (which Sherlock despises in this version) with examples like 221b being a fake address or him preferring the cigar over the pipe. Furthermore, it reflects in Sir Mckellen's performance in that its hard to compare or find similarities to prior portrayals. It really is its own thing which is thematic to the reality behind the fiction thing they have here. Deductions are not like magic tricks here. It treats its detective work very real and serious and how it can take a toll on a person.
That being said, I do come into a Sherlock Holmes story for the deductions and the thrill of the chase. And there is a serious lack of any major thrill or suspense mostly sourced from the fact that the case is technically solved and he is just trying to remember it, so the stakes have significantly lessened from a traditional standpoint. Also the pacing is way too slow for my taste so it can become boring. My point being this is not a detective thriller but more of an introspective character study dealing with quite heavy hitting themes such as existential crisis, old age and what comes with it (both physically and mentally as one loses his faculties) and when one's methods/beliefs are tested. If you like those sort of things, the movie definitely excels at that and you will enjoy but if you prefer the more thriller experience, it can become tedious since the story doesn't focus on the case itself but its repercussions.
I enjoyed the performances and the character relationships since the movie places Holmes in a new environment amongst completely new characters and how it handled it. As I said before Sir Ian Mckellen as the detective delivers a terrific performance where he portrays as a retired Holmes and also him in his prime thirty years earlier from which one can see how the former is such a far cry to the latter and makes it apparent that this is a man who is in his twilight. He also captures Holmes' dry humour very well. Laura Linney as housekeeper Mrs.Munro is someone who does not like tending to Holmes but does it due to her economic circumstances. You can see the frustration on her face and it does make you feel sort of sorry for her. On top of that you add his old age and his growing fondness to her son Roger, played by Milo Parker. Its nice to see that their relationship is kept quite ambiguous where one can view it as a mentor-protege relationship or look it as a father-son bonding. With that you include the great chemistry between Milo and Mckellen in both story and performance. These three characters at times do play off each other rather well.
Anne Kelmot (Hattie Morahan) is the main person case-wise and her situation regarding her miscarried children is certainly dark and has intriguing parts though again since it doesn't focus on the case much of that intrigue is lost. Though I liked how she grew into somewhat of a love interest at the end. There is also an interesting side-story between Holmes and Matsuda Umezaki played by Hiroyuki Sanada (Yashida's son from Wolverine). Though at times I felt it focused too much on it.
In conclusion as I said its a really good character study that attempts to test the very foundations of Holmes' beliefs that is supported with great performances and characterisations. However, I do believe that if it could do all that upon a better mystery element, the story could have been tighter and more enjoyable for me at least. As a Sherlock fan you will not be entirely remiss if you could not catch this version. It's really only meant for those who wish to really, really want to get thoroughly in-depth of the character. Did you know Bill Condon previously directed the last two Twilight films? Now that is a major step-up.
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