Mr. Holmes (2015)

Ian McKellan as a Holmes at the end of his life, living alone in a cottage in Sussex, grudgingly (on both sides) cared for by his housekeeper (Laura Linney) and her precocious kid (Milo Parker). Holmes, long since weary of the version of himself everyone knows from Watson's stories (we only ever see Watson as a blurry outline or his hands writing) and the various adaptations thereof, is determined to write the truth of his final case, from 30 years ago.

If he could only remember it clearly.

The movie moves between the present, as Holmes befriends the kid (or vice versa) and struggles with age and its related problems, and two different times in the past. One is the final case, which they cut to and from as the memories crystallize in Holmes' mind. Sometimes it's blurry, other times it's crystal clear, brightly lit, sunny skies. McKellan walks straight, head high, clothes neat, well-composed.

Then it's back to the present, where he's slump-shouldered, wearing loose knit sweater-vests and looking very ruddy in the face. He holds his mouth slack at times, too, when his mind is especially scattered, in a way that reminded me unpleasantly of my grandmother's final months. A lot of the present scenes are set inside the cottage, with low ceilings and muted lighting. Nothing's as vivid as the past glory was.

The other flashbacks are to his just completed trip to Japan. He's in pursuit of a plant which is said to help with dementia and arthritis, but the young man helping him has ulterior motives related to Holmes' past. Holmes initially has no recollection of the specific event, and when he does remember, I'm unclear why he was involved at all. It does offer a chance, in the present, to apply a lesson he'd learned from his final case but hadn't properly internalized.

Milo Parker plays Roger as clever and curious and full of dreams that don't necessarily align with the realities as his mother sees them. He peppers Holmes with questions, and McKellan gives Holmes the air of a man looking for someone to pass something of himself to. So a kid eager to learn, even if the Mr. Holmes he sees doesn't match the Mr. Holmes he read about, is a godsend.

Linney gets what could be a thankless role - the responsible one, at times caring for two stubborn children - but she gives the audience glimpses of a woman who knows she can't fill the void of Roger's deceased father, knows her own limitations, but is trying her best within those limitations. There are several scenes where it feels like she's on the verge of crying, but not letting herself do it in front of Roger.