Mr. Holmes - Definitely NOT What I Was Expecting

WARNING: SPOILERS!

Ok, first off, let me say that Ian McKellen could fix me scrambled eggs any time he wants too.  Yes, I know he's gay and I know the odds of him fixing me anything after an intimate moment are far higher than me winning the lottery.  But I'm saying I think he's talented and sexy.  So.....

After the week I'm had, I needed a bit of something out of the house and Savvy and I hit the theater Sunday morning when we could pay the matinee price and there wouldn't be a crowd.  In fact, I think there were only 6 of us in the theater at the time.  I had a HUGE container of popcorn and a banana icee (which really isn't good even if you like fake banana-which I do) and a box of Milk-Duds and settled in for a bit of Sherlock Holmes.

We had both seen the trailers and by those I thought "Holmes last case", a little light hearted, nice way to spend a hot Sunday morning when you don't want to be outside.  AND BOY WERE WE WRONG!

Don't get me wrong.  If I were asked how many stars out of a 5 star rating I would give this movie, I would give it 6 or 8.  But it is not the light-hearted flick we thought we were walking into.

Sherlock is now 93 and is having some issues.  The main one being he can't remember the reason why he left London and stopped being a detective all those years ago.  It wasn't just that Watson got married and left, there was more to it and he wants to set the record straight.  Problem is, he is old and forgetting things.

One of the first things which lend themselves to this sense of fragility is when his doctor tells him to put a mark in a diary every day when he can't remember something.  And you see the pages having more and more marks on them.

Slowly, as the days go by as he writes and talks to the young boy, Roger (played by Milo Parker), bit and pieces of his last case come out.  He knows what Watson wrote of his last case is not the truth, but he doesn't know why.  And now he is realizing how cold facts and logic played out in a tragic manner in his last case.  

There is a trip to post-World War II Japan which ties in with the story, both past and present.  And bees.  The bees are important to the story and tie everything together.  But when Sherlock breaks down and cries because he realizes he is not all logic and facts and cares for Roger, I almost lost it.

Milo Parker, as Roger, is fantastic as a young foil to the elderly Holmes.  Laura Linney, plays Roger's mother, and is superb as a young widow whose son is her whole life.  Ian McKellan....just fantastic.  They did an excellent job of showing him as an older Holmes, pursuing his last case, and an elderly Holmes chasing fragments of his memory before they are gone forever.

Savvy and I left the theater and headed out to the car a bit dazed, feeling like we had been sucker punched.  I don't regret a dime I spent and would gladly pay the full admission price to see it, knowing what I know now.  Having just had the loss of 3 people I knew recently, this movie hit home and hit hard.  It punches you in the stomach and then rips your heart out.  Not a light movie for a Sunday morning by any means.  BUT ONE YOU HAVE TO GO SEE!  Just realize the laughs are all in the clips you see before you get to the movie.  And I still want my scrambled eggs, Sir McKellan.