Mr Holmes (PG)
Directed by Bill Condon
3/5

A SHERLOCK Holmes in his twilight years, frail and losing his intellectual acumen to senility, is a bold if not elementary premise following his numerous portrayals over the years on the big and small screens.

Sir Ian McKellen lends his richly deep and resonant voice and gravitas to a 93-year-old Holmes who, in 1947, has retired to a remote Sussex farmhouse to pursue beekeeping with his housekeeper Mrs Munro (Laura Linney) and her young son Roger, played engagingly by relative newcomer Milo Parker — a cinematic find.

With the youngster’s help, he attempts to resolve the mystery of a 30-year-old case which led to his retirement.

This is the first time that director Bill Condon and McKellen have been reunited since they worked on Gods and Monsters 17 years ago, which was also about a hugely famous elderly man facing his impending mortality while finding solace in friendship with a younger person.

Based on Mitch Cullin’s 2005 novel A Slight Trick of the Mind, the film reimagines the world-famous sleuth as a real person, frustrated with being misrepresented in Dr Watson’s bestselling books recounting Holmes adventures. As Holmes keeps pointing out, he doesn’t wear a deerstalker or smoke a pipe.

Condon delivers a gentle but intricate slow-burning mystery thriller which proves totally captivating. Flitting seamlessly from 1947 to 1919 and back again, it explores Holmes the man rather than the detective.

Full of nods to the iconic detective’s past incarnations, this is an intriguing addition to the Holmes canon.

It’s held together by McKellen’s compelling, nuanced performance and his endearing friendship with Roger.

Linney’s portrayal, though, is ruined by a bizarre West Country accent which comes and goes like Holmes’s failing mind.