Director: Bill Condon
Writers: Jeffrey Hatcher
Cast: Ian McKellen, Milo Parker, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada
Runtime: 104 mins.
2015
Mr. Holmes presents an aged Sherlock with decades standing between himself and many of the aspects of the character that we would typically consider mandatory, or at the least recognizable. Holmes (Ian McKellen), a once infamous detective, is now wiling away his life in the quiet English countryside with his caretaker (Laura Linney) and her child Roger (Milo Parker). He chafes at this lifestyle, yet has been resigned to it ever since his long distant Last Case and subsequent retirement. The trouble is, he can't remember why that final case drove him into retirement, and he doesn't trust the long-deceased Watson's fictionalized take on the matter. Sherlock Holmes is only interested in the hard truth, a difficult proposition when suffering from heavy bouts of memory loss and senility. Mr. Holmes is about an aging genius attempting to reconstruct his memories to understand an important decision he made many years ago, and he only manages to make progress with the insistent prodding of his new friend and protege, Roger.
