It’s always
a risk to meet celebrities and personal heroes in real life, isn’t it? Who
knows what they are like in real life, their public persona is, after all,
there to please. In real life, well, they can get away with pleasing a lot
fewer people, let’s put it that way. And there you have it, dreams destroyed in
instants.
And boy oh
boy wouldn’t the long suffering Mrs Munro (Academy Award nominee Laura Linney)
know it… She and her little boy Roger (Milo parker) are housekeepers to the
famous detective Sherlock Holmes (Sir Ian McKellan). You would think this was
an honour, an adventure and a thing to be proud of. The problem is though, that
Holmes in real life (unlike his legend) is getting old and he is doing it with
very bad grace indeed. He is battling the first stages of dementia, which makes
his personal torture double because he is also looking back on his life wracked
with regret, regret concerning a particular case that really didn’t go Holmes’
way… The problem is, Holmes can’t exactly remember what happened. And for this
reason he can’t figure out if there is a way back from this tragedy… His only
source of joy is Roger, a bright and talented boy who adores Holmes. However
Roger is only nine and his mother does not approve of this unlikely friendship
so his assistance may well be too little too late…
I loved
this film for so many reasons. First up, amusingly enough, Holmes himself
contemplates the legend of Holmes and frankly finds lacking a lot. And quite a
few bits added on. It’s a wonderful reflexion on celebrity and the legend
created around the famous. It is almost as if celebrities aren’t allowed to be
human beings with the occasional bad day and bad mood. More importantly they
don’t always have control over what the public imagine them to be and therefore by
default “become” something or someone they can barely recognize themselves.
Consider the case of Mr Holmes then, who on top of all of that is now also
suffering from dementia and having to struggle with his own demons. Or if you
would prefer, consider any other star that has to cope with pleasing the public
with their performances on stage and off while fighting big and scary personal
demons. Think Amy Winehouse or Kurt Cobain… Sure Mr
Holmes spells out the same message in the safety of a nice little whitewashed
cottage on the coast, but it is basically the same story and it ain’t pretty…
On top of
all of that, Mr Holmes is an unflinching gaze directed at old age. The skill of
Ian McKellan is truly extraordinary as he portrays, in turn, a greying but
still very much on form Sherlock Holmes on his last case and contrasts it quite
beautifully to the frail old man desperately trying to hold onto his memories,
his sanity but maybe most importantly his former self. As I watched McKellan I couldn’t help but
think that it couldn’t have been an easy part to play, not least because he
himself is 76 years old. Although he is on top form in the film (and in real
life as far as we can tell!) one cannot help but wonder if at times he felt
that portraying this aging celebrity looking back at his life and his public persona
cut a little too close to home. But then again, this is what it takes to be a
truly great actor. You cannot worry about “looking good” if you want to do the
part justice. You can only go straight forward, warts and all, and this is what
creates performances like McKellen’s where we feel truly sorry for Holmes and
feel - perhaps for the first time – that
he has become a real person.
I actually
love this last point too. Think for example of Holmes’ more famous modern
incarnation in the form of Benedict Cumberbatch. A combination of modern
technology and latest fashions means that Holmes is more like a superhero than
anything else. Except that his superpowers are quite “human” and even though
they are definitely improbable in real life, they are definitely not
impossible. In short, the ideal kind of superhero for our disenchanted times…
Now we finally see Holmes with the mask off – as it were. And even Holmes
(McKellen) cracks a giggle as he watches the “legend of Holmes” in the cinema.
There is something wonderfully self-reflexive about this latest addition to the
canon of Holmes reenactments watching itself on a (albeit fictional) cinema
screen. But I guess this Holmes is slightly different. Just as Cumberbach’s
Holmes is a superhero without “super” powers, a more realistic Holmes would not
be completely invincible. Old age and death come to us all after all, and
Homes’ ultimate battle with his greatest nemesis – dementia – is one that all
of us can sympathize with on some level.
For all
that though, Mr Holmes is very much an upbeat film. I recommended it to my
grandmother and mother, and both are particularly partial to “happy” films. Yes
it is melancholy and thought provoking in places, but the friendship between
Roger and Holmes – with Roger potentially taking the baton from Holmes in some
unseen future – is a sight to behold.
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