Jan & I promised each other that a significant part of our new lives in California will include going to movies. In the past month we’ve been to two, so while more than modest, it looks to be shaping up to be an improvement on the past.
The other night we saw Mr. Holmes, a small movie exploring Sherlock Holmes imagined in his old age. The amazing Ian McKellen, who I gather is in his early seventies, plays Holmes at sixty-five, and at ninety-two.
This is, as you might imagine given those two ages, not an action flick. In fact as we were sitting through the credits a couple behind us were clearly unhappy with the slow pace of the movie, vastly more meditative, and internal than action. Not a single bomb exploded. Not a single person thrown across the screen. The film is also blessed with some beautiful scenery, which is used to full effect in that languid quality that marks much of the movie.
The plot, as one commentator notes, such as it is, turns on two major issues, Sherlock Holmes dealing with memory loss, and not well, and against that the fact his last case was a failure, and how it haunts him thirty plus years later. I found the presentation of memory loss, critical in a number of ways to the film, only partially satisfying, or, rather, only somewhat accurate.
But, on the whole it carries forward. Not in the least because Ian McKellen may be one of the great actors of our generation. And, they made the best of that letting a fair amount of the forward movement of the film play out on his face. Lots of close ups. Not one was one too many…
I did like how the film attempted to portray questions of character, and the shadows that lurk within our strengths, in this case how Holmes, who can deduce the most information from the fewest clues, is the best of all at reading people’s actions, but comes out to be absolutely clueless in regards to the deeper currents of the human heart. And, how this leads to some terrible things. That is a powerful message, and is lovingly detailed.
The parts about memory are more satisfactory in the concept than the execution. But, that attempt at dealing with someone’s loss of memory and the consequences for them, and for those around them, are worthy, and the attempt itself is to be commended.
Then, there is how it all resolves. The film raises more questions than answers in the very way it answers the questions. For me, the film maker and possibly the author of the novel upon which it is based are people reaching a bit beyond their grasp. But, again, worthy in the attempt.
All in all, not just a pleasant evening with Jan engaged in the great parallel play of movie going, but also a spark for conversations about some important things. Memory. Consequences.
And small redemptions.
Maybe not a great film. But a good film exploring some important questions.
Worth seeing.
Glad we did…
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