Mr. Holmes (2015)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Mr. Holmes focuses on the man behind the mysteries, and while it may lack Baker Street thrills, it more than compensates with tenderly wrought, well-acted drama.
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Cast
as Sherlock Holmes
as Mrs. Munro
as Roger
as Mr. Umezaki
as Ann Kelmot
as Thomas Kelmot
as Matinee Sherlock Holmes
as Dr. John Watson
as Matinee "Ann Kelmot"
as Madame Schirmer
as Oswald
as Matinee Kelmot
as Matinee Madame Schirmer
as Mycroft Holmes
as Dr. Barrie
as Inspector Gilbert
as The Haunted Woman
as Mrs. Hudson
as Matinee "Sherlock"
as Maya
as Matsuda Umezaki
as Bank Manager
as Oswald
as Boy - 10yrs
as Boy's Mother
as Lady on Platform
as Chemist
as Ticket Agent
as Joe Gilbert
as Una Gilbert
as Ann's Solicitor
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Critic Reviews for Mr. Holmes
All Critics (174) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (154) | Rotten (20) | DVD (1)
As someone who neither hungers for yet another incarnation of this character nor understands why anyone would, I watched in subdued bafflement.
The mystery subplot lacks the ingenuity of the greatest Holmes stories, but McKellen excels, switching effortlessly between the reclusive beekeeper with a faltering memory and the elegant younger detective at the height of his powers.
It's a gripping little tale, to be sure, but it's more than that. Somewhere in its tangle of timelines, false starts, and red herrings is a great truth about the unsolvable mystery of the human soul.
Even those who've read the book can be startled by what happens in Mr. Holmes, while they're being moved by McKellen in a role he's come to late, but with his customary elegance.
[An] intriguing if only semi-satisfying Sherlockian enterprise.
The best of it, as in Condon's other movies, are the details of emotions, fleeting but just as quickly caught - true concern camouflaged by flashes of impatience, unutterable despair masquerading as simple grief.
Audience Reviews for Mr. Holmes
Lifted by an excellent performance from Sir Ian McKellen, this is an insightful look at a de-romanticized, "real" Sherlock Holmes trying to hold on to his aging mind and volatile memories this side of life's wall while finally getting to realize the nuances of human complexity.
Super Reviewer
Sherlock Holmes battles his failing memory as he tries to solve his last case, which still haunts him. The highlight of this film is the masterful work by Ian McKellen, whose take on an aging Holmes brings to mind the thesis of A Beautiful Mind: that intelligence can outwit the infirmities of the body. Despite his failing memory, Holmes attempts to retrain his brain to renew his deductive capacities, and yet in the lines of McKellen's face, we see the emotional toll these additional intellectual acrobatics work on him. The mystery plot is pedestrian, with a payoff that does not rival some of the classic Holmes mysteries, but in fairness, the film is about age and its ravages, not necessarily a typical whodunit. Overall, I like this take on Holmes, though I pray that they don't take it too far with an uninspired sequel.
Super Reviewer
Mr. Holmes is not your usual Sherlock Holmes mystery. In this movie, the mystery exists as Sherlock is drifting into dementia, and he can't quite figure out why he retired as a detective.
Super Reviewer
Mr. Holmes Quotes
| Sherlock Holmes: | When you are a detective and a man visits you it's usually about his wife. |
| Sherlock Holmes: | I told Watson if I ever write a store it will be to correct the million misconceptions created by his imagination. |