Mr. Holmes (2015)

An aged, retired Sherlock Holmes deals with dementia, as he tries to remember his final case, and a mysterious woman, whose memory haunts him. He also befriends a fan, the young son of his housekeeper, who wants him to work again.

Director:

Bill Condon

Writers:

Mitch Cullin (novel), Jeffrey Hatcher (screenplay)

Stars:

Ian McKellen, Laura Linney, Hiroyuki Sanada

19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ian McKellen	...	Sherlock Holmes
Laura Linney	...	Mrs. Munro
Milo Parker	...	Roger
Hiroyuki Sanada	...	Tamiki Umezaki
Hattie Morahan	...	Ann Kelmot
Patrick Kennedy	...	Thomas Kelmot
Roger Allam	...	Dr. Barrie
Phil Davis	...	Inspector Gilbert
Frances de la Tour	...	Madame Schirmer (as Frances De La Tour)
Charles Maddox	...	Oswald
Takako Akashi	...	Maya Umezaki
Zak Shukor	...	Masuo Umezaki
John Sessions	...	Mycroft Holmes
Michael Culkin	...	Bank Manager
David Foxxe	...	Chemist

Storyline

The story is set in 1947, following a long-retired Holmes living in a Sussex village with his housekeeper and her young son. But then he finds himself haunted by a thirty-year old case. Holmes memory isn't what it used to be, so he only remembers fragments of the case: a confrontation with an angry husband, and a secret bond with his beautiful, but unstable wife.

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Plot Keywords:

son | memory | mother | nest | anger | 

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Taglines:

The man behind the myth

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements, some disturbing images and incidental smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

To simulate age progression, liver spots are placed on Holmes' head. In earlier scenes, they are not there.

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Goofs

Holmes (perhaps forgivably for 1947) repeats the mistaken idea that "the queen runs the colony and the workers do the work" - in fact, a queen bee is no more than an enlarged egg-making machine at the service of a worker collective, which will slaughter her should she falter, while other worker bees create a replacement queen. Also when the colony grows too large, it is the workers who make the decision to swarm, by starving the queen which both lightens up her body and forces her to take flight.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sherlock Holmes: You shouldn't do that. Tap the glass.
Boy: How did you know I was going to?
Boy's Mother: You must forgive my son, he loves bees.
Sherlock Holmes: It isn't a bee, it's a wasp. Different thing entirely.

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Connections

Referenced in Diminishing Returns: Goldfinger (2016)

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Soundtracks

Tea Ceremony
Composed by Graham de Wilde
Provided by APM Music

User Reviews

Gentle, lyrical and thoughtful

I genuinely had no idea what to expect from this film as I knew so little about it. OK, so it has Sherlock Holmes as the lead character and I naturally assumed that it would be some crime solving caper. Boy was I wrong, but pleasantly so. The premise of the film is simple - what happens to the famous Sherlock Holmes in his twilight years, if he were to suffer from senility... and no it's not a comedy nor is it a depressing film. It's an evenly-paced, gentle, well-written character study of a fiercely intelligent man trying to hold on to the use of his brilliant mind to recount the details of his final case. If I could use one word to describe this film - contemplative. It's a series of vignettes, each with its own little mystery, all seemingly unconnected at first, until it gradually all comes together. Ian McKellen is, as always, fantastic and perfectly cast in the titular role but the most intriguing character is the subject of Holmes' final case, wonderfully portrayed by Hattie Morahan as Ann Kelmot. Also love the moody soundtrack by Carter Burwell. Very good film, thoughtful with striking images of the British countryside.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Japanese French

Release Date:

24 July 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mr. Holmes

Filming Locations:

Sussex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,434,908, 19 July 2015

Gross USA:

$17,737,646

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$29,355,203

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, Roadside Attractions, BBC Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1