Movie: Mr Holmes

As you would expect, Ian McKellan made this part his own. He plays the intriguing, older Sherlock, aged 93 with flash backs to his retirement 30 years earlier with no hint of the arrogance we’ve seen on TV in recent years. Having just got back from a tiring trip to Japan to find a herb that is said to aid his memory, we see the elderly Holmes attempting to recall cases so he can write the accurate version to the more  embellished (glamorous) versions written by Mr Watson in his books. Now living in an isolated farmhouse, the film focusses on his last unsolved case where a distraught husband is worried about his wife after two miscarriages. In the present, it’s all about the relationship with the inquisitive young son of his housekeeper who is keen to take the boy away to a more vibrant working location. They bond over Holmes’ retirement hobby of bee keeping and as young Roger questions his work, having read the Sherlock books, the detective is forced to remember the details to record for future reference when he is long gone.I found the film a little slow-moving to be the delight it could have been and yet the performances and story, when eventually it unfolds, are entirely apt.7/10 Smile factor 7/10