Young Sherlock once mused "I never want to be alone" when asked what he wanted to be after school. In 1947 Old Sherlock, Mr. Holmes, his memory failing him and life nearing an imminent end laments the fact that his terminal alone-ness has driven too many of the most important people away from him. Set long after His Last Bow, Holmes is living a simple life, tending to his bees in Sussex. Watson is long gone, and so is his happiness.His housekeeper and her son are the only family he has, though the chore of caring for him is beginning to have a negative impact on them. As his memories and recollections vanish like ghosts into the aether, Holmes struggles to reminisce about his final case and the huge failure that led him to isolating himself from the world. Watson gave the story a happy ending, tricking the world into believing that the case was a success, but Holmes has kept the truth secret and very personal.It's not so much a mystery as much as it is a drama about an unhappy man trying to come to terms with his past mistakes. The thing about movies is that they have to be concise and tight when it comes to character development. Soap Operas, sitcoms, and even cartoons don't have this problem as the history and development of a single character can occur over many seasons and years. Sherlock Holmes is probably THE most portrayed character of all time with dozens, maybe hundreds, of actors giving their own unique spin across movies, TV shows, theatre productions, spin-off novels, radio dramas, and even video games. But I have never seen him portrayed so weak, sympathetic, and so far removed from the classic image of the cape, deerstalker, and pipe ("an invention of the illustrator", he admits). Based on the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind, the movie presents the "true" fictional detective, elegantly played by Ian McKellen with Laura Linney doing a truly dodgy West Country accent as his housekeeper. Their relationship is fraught and confrontational, but heartfelt and sincere. The presence of Nicholas Rowe as Holmes in a movie adaptation of his failed last case is what you call a super- meta-meta-meta-fictional moment.Though shot in 2.35:1 (I suspect it is cropped from 1.78:1, a sort of digital version of Super35) it seems quite televisual, so I can't rate it too highly. Bill Condon stages this story like an episode of Midsomer Murders with very little of it feeling theatrical. It's a shame, but the production design makes up for it.

This review contains Spoilers because I suspect other viewers may, as I did, begin this slow-moving, deceptively disjointed, seemingly undramatic film...and, on first try, give up because it's "depressing" and about a genius losing his memory. Is he really losing his memory? That treacly old song from the 70's says, "what's too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget."Sherlock Holmes in advanced old age, after the end of World War II, travels by train to a stunning country house he has maintained (we learn) for thirty-five years, after renouncing the profession of detective for that of apparently--none. He has been and still is profoundly interested in bees, and he keeps and tends bees at the country home. There, Mrs. Munro and her young son Roger (Laura Linney and Milo Parker) look after the home. Mrs. Munro is one of those dangerous people whose very bitter life experiences have left passionate about duty and routine, but less observant of the demands of kindness. Not a stern woman, and certainly never cruel, she is nevertheless mean-spirited, especially when two things happen: her adorable son (Milo Parker has a big career ahead of him) quickly shows aptitude for beekeeping and innate, aristocratic sensitivity to her boss; and, second, Holmes makes the brutal remark to her that it often happens that "extraordinary children are often the product of unremarkable parents."Luckily, "Mr. Holmes" is no repetition of either PBS' "Sherlock," or "Elementary," or the Robert Downey films. It does not exhaust the viewer with its hero's cruel wit. Except for this early and miserable slight, Ian McKellen gives a tour de force performance as a frightened, sometimes terrified, old man whose reason for living eludes but haunts him. It haunts him in the image of a Roaring Twenties-dressed female, a sad-faced woman whom encroaching dementia makes appear to him as real. But do his hallucinations indicate dementia--or a guilty conscience?The extraordinary thing about this stunningly plotted and meticulously developed script is that it remains so true to the "Sherlock Holmes" of legend, while filling in plot holes in other versions of the fictitious detective's life-- plot holes found even in the books. That plot hole will be addressed in an unforgettable flashback scene and addresses head-on the loneliness of a mind as brilliant as his. Loneliness as a huge part of the human *and* Holmesian condition is described in dialogue you'll find yourself reaching for a pen or stylus to transcribe; it is *that* good.Between beekeeping, a very private but frantic search for a cure for his "dementia," and the attempt to finish his "first story" (all the others were written by Dr. Watson), Holmes' mundane reliance on young Roger's innocence and idolatry of him as a father-figure becomes something much MUCH more than a cozy story of a grampa learning to be entertained by a kid's zest for life. At stake in "Mr. Holmes" is the redemptive power of love--and by the word "redemption," I mean salvation in a religious sense. There aren't words to describe how moving, entertaining, and sage this film is. See if it you're old and scared about the future, see it if you're young and scared about the future, see it if you're bitter and scared about the future. As Roger reminds his 93-year-old BFF, he had a 102-year-old uncle. Holmes characteristically tries to one-up Roger: "Ah, but what are the chances you'll know *two* who live to that age?" To which Roger replies: "I didn't really know the other one all that well."This film is a revelation in more ways than one.

So, I watched this without the benefit of knowing anything about it and not having seen any trailers for it. Consequently, I seem to have derived more enjoyment of the film than many others, who seem to be of the opinion that they were misled by the advertising.Intrigued, I did a little sleuthing myself (Youtube is a wonderful repository of movie trailers!) and was rather surprised to find the international trailer painted an entirely different tone to this movie than was actually present.See, Mr. Holmes is a rather uncomfortable look at a great detective who is far into his dotage and going senile, if not suffering directly from Alzheimers. The entire thrust of the movie is him struggling to remember the case that led him to decide to take an early retirement. He senses that he must have done something terrible, but cannot remember what. Of course, in the fullness of the movie's runtime, he does recall the case and why he retired, loose ends are tied up and pretty much everything turns out for the best.The international trailer, however, portrays the movie as a great mystery romp, complete with rather light-hearted music and a complete mish-mashing of several stories told in the film over a large span of years as if they were all part of one, continuous narrative.Accordingly, it is hard not to go into this film (if one watched that int'l trailer) without expect an entirely different movie altogether.Mr. Holmes is a character study, not a great mystery story. Though Holmes does indeed get to the bottom of why he retired, it is not so much a mystery, as him simply managing to put the pieces together and remember what happened.The movie, from my perspective of having no idea what it was going to be like, was fine, if a little slow. Ian McKellen shows exactly why he is so highly regarded as an actor, with a performance that is at once both effortless and endearing. The rest of the small cast also perform well and the movie as a whole is put together rather nicely.But it is slow, and it is not really about the solving of a great mystery. Given the trailer, I can see why so many disliked it.Incidentally, the UK trailer, though still with some rather jollier music than really suits the film, actually bothers to explain the basic premise of the film, so quite why the international trailer was so badly put together is a bit of a mystery.I should note that this isn't the first time a trailer has portrayed a film as something very different from what it actually is, and I doubt it will be the last. Many trailers use footage not in the theatrical cut anyway! It is on us all to watch such things with a healthy dose of skepticism. After all, they exist solely to get us interested enough to go and see a film. Honesty, these days, is a low priority.However, a mis-sold film need not automatically be considered bad. Mr. Holmes is a fine movie. Don't let the misleading advertising ruin your enjoyment of it.SUMMARY: Great character study. Not a mystery story. A small, rather melancholy, drama that delivers rather well, but which was mis-sold in the international market as something it is not. Worth your time if you ever wondered what might happen to Holmes once his wits dulled with age.

As a character study, this movie was excellent. As far as the acting, it was superb. Most notable performances were Ian McKellen (of course), Milo Parker and Hattie Morahan. And the subject matter was very well done. Aging, dementia and loss were all covered with both empathy and truth. Considering how long the persona of Sherlock Holmes has been around, this was a timely movie that in no way detracts from previous films. Nor does it feel like an ending of the series of Sherlock Holmes as a whole, but rather an exploration of one of many ways Mr. Holmes might retire - and why.While some may say it was too slow, not all great movies need a lot of action. This movie was well worth my time.