The last time I talked about Back Roads, I mentioned there that the next movie I would see would be Mr. Holmes, and it was. I must say that in the film I found relatively what I expected to find, not a film that gave prominence to the mystery and skills of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, but a more human vision, a Holmes that many would say is in decline due to the loss of physical abilities, but nevertheless, he finds greater internal lucidity than he ever had before.

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Year: 2015 Category: Drama, Mystery. Director: Bill Condon. Cast: Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada, Milo Parker, Hattie Morahan.

Plot

Set primarily during his retirement in Sussex, the film follows a 93-year-old Holmes who struggles to recall the details of his final case because his mind is slowly deteriorating.

Opinion

The film begins by showing how an old Mr. Holmes, 93 years old, arrives at a farm, where he lives together with Mrs. Munro, who is his housekeeper, and her son Roger. Holmes at this point in his life and with a very defective memory is writing a short novel about his last case, the one that caused his retirement, mainly because it seemed wrong the way in which Watson described what happened in his novels, where the resolution of the case was altered, however, Holmes fails to remember clearly what happened 30 years ago when that happened.

So throughout the film three timelines are created, the first, the one in which old Holmes shares with Mrs. Munro's son, Roger, who teaches him about beekeeping, and with whom he develops a friendship while Roger also reads the novel he writes. On the other hand, we see a second time line that goes back 30 years to the past, showing the last case of Holmes, case that does not remember accurately. Finally, we see a third time line that goes back to a recent past in which Holmes travels to Japan.

Something you should know about this film is that the figure of Sherlock Holmes by itself has no great preponderance, easily the film could be any other detective, or at least one very good, because what the director tries to delve is not the analytical characteristics of the character, and his cunning and insight when solving mysteries, no, the director tries to study the more human side of the character, not their skills, for this portrays an old Holmes and with a defective memory, the director deprives Holmes of much of his ability, because his goal is not to show the great detective we all know, but his human side, the fragility of a Holmes after a long career and the reflection that he himself makes about what has done over the years.

In that sense the film does not prioritize in the mysteries to solve, but in what those mysteries mean for the personal development that Holmes crosses, probably, in his last days. The timelines should only be understood not in consideration of the mysteries that it solves, but all as a single explanation to the evolution that the character has.

The film is a kind of antithesis of what are superhero movies or The Fast and the Furious, there is no action here, do not expect it, because you will not find it, it is not a thriller either, this is mainly and almost exclusively a drama.

The direction work done by Bill Condon here seemed quite good, it was a very nice film and that certainly shows us the weakness of the human being to survive by itself when old age has arrived and the importance of the relationship that each one has with other people. Jeffrey Hatcher's script work was pretty good too, although according to some reviews I read, the timelines had no coherence or meaning, but personally I consider the opposite, without them the evolution of the character could not be explained, so it was a good job.

The performances were really very good too, Ian McKellen plays Holmes in a great way, not like it's usually portrayed, but still in an original and great way, appealing more to his human than intellectual side, without this meaning that he does not show his insight at times. Laura Linney does a great job too, I had time without seeing this actress, she really does very well all the time. Milo Parker, as the child actor of the film, does a convincing and charismatic work.

Well, I do not have much more to say, I liked the film, it shows a different face of Sherlock Holmes, although I do not know the opinion of the fans of the character about this film.

Trailer

Score

8/10

If you are the type of people who like movies that focus on exploring the most human side of people, then this movie may be for you, and at the time of publishing this review, I know that it is available for Germany, Canada , Japan, Switzerland in the Netflix catalog.