Then slowly but surely the three stories become inextricably interlinked, as this re-imagining – adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from Mitch Cullin’s 2005 novel A Slight Trick of the Mind – reveals itself to be less a classic Sherlock Holmes tale, and more a touching, thought-provoking character study. Which all seems somewhat disparate and unfocussed. This is weird, because Holmes says he never actually lived here in the film. We also spend time with present-day Holmes tending to his apiary, arguing with housekeeper Mrs Munro (Laura Linney – melancholy, obstinate), befriending her young son Roger (Milo Parker – sweet, charming), and generally being doddery and cantankerous. The 1919 passages, meanwhile, concerns a case that Sherlock is desperately trying to remember – a mystery that haunts and terrifies him and one that prompted Holmes to give up detecting for good. The portion from the recent past revolves around a trip to Japan, during which Sherlock travels to war-torn Hiroshima in search of a plant called ‘prickly ash,’ which he believes will slow the erosion of his brain cells.
Holmes tells much of its story via flashback, largely taking place in 1947, but featuring a pair of older stories that gradually become entwined. Which hardly makes for the most appealing of set-ups, but then Mr. More distressingly, his critical faculties are deserting him, with that brilliant brain slowly being ravaged by the onset of dementia. Really old in fact, with this take on the character 93 and retired to a cottage in the Sussex countryside to live in anonymity and look after bees. Holmes – which is directed by Kinsey and Dreamgirls helmer Bill Condon – features a version of Sherlock that’s unlike any that has gone before.
So before you groan at the arrival of yet another celluloid adaptation, know that Mr.
0 kommentar(er)
