Movie Review: Mr. Holmes

My husband and I started watching this movie when we thought the kids would also enjoy it. We began and then stopped again because the movie was slow and also, because we felt the kids needed context. My daughter knew Sherlock Holmes was the greatest detective who ever lived in fiction and that his partner’s name was Watson, but not much else. My son had no idea who he was.

So we stopped the movie about 20 minutes in and began watching Sherlock Holmes (the one with Robert Downey Jr.)

After that, we came back to this one.

The movie is, in my opinion, slow for children, but my kids were enthralled. This movie tells of a very old Sherlock Holmes (at 93) as he is battling senility and trying to remember the details of his last case. Mr. Holmes lives with his housekeeper and her son, although his doctor recommends he goes to an institution or hires a nurse. He, stubborn as he is, won’t do any such thing.

The movie goes back and forth between his last case (back when he was in his 60’s) and the present time, where he develops a relationship with his housekeeper’s son, a boy who obviously wants to do more with his life than his mom has.

The movie is mostly about life and relationships and what it means to be alone. The movie made me think a lot, although I don’t know what the children got out of it, except that they say they really enjoyed it.

cheers!