Mr. Holmes
Roadside Attractions | Release Date: July 17, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
11
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaJul 17, 2015
Mr. Holmes is about how the past defines us. It is also very much about regret and trying to put things right. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesMiriam Di NunzioJul 16, 2015
McKellen is brilliant throughout, his piercing blue eyes revealing the gallantry of youth and the sadness of a life’s worth of memories slipping further away. His understated and charming approach to the role makes it all the more potent and engaging. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJessica KiangJul 15, 2015
Mr. Holmes is not so much the story of Holmes' last case, as the story of his last choice: whether to go gentle, or whether to rage against the dying of the light. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJul 20, 2015
Sherlock Holmes is totally cool again, which warms my dorky heart. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJul 16, 2015
Maneuvering shrewdly within the boundaries of the traditional canon and aided by the impeccable performance of Ian McKellen, Bill Condon directs an elegant puzzler that presents the sage of Baker Street dealing with the one thing he's never had to contend with before: his own emotions. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 16, 2015
Shining is nothing new for McKellen, a brilliant actor, and it's interesting to see how he and Condon portray Holmes' faculties at different times. Read full review
80
Total FilmPaul BradshawJun 16, 2015
Anyone expecting opera and opium will be disappointed. But a majestic McKellen rescues a safe script, giving us a fresh look at an icon even the most casual viewer will be (over)familar with. Read full review
80
VarietyScott FoundasFeb 8, 2015
The more vital subject of Mr. Holmes turns out to be our need for stories themselves and, in particular, the role of fiction as an escape from the pain and loss of everyday life. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJul 17, 2015
There will always be plenty of fictional geniuses solving impossible crimes, but Holmes, it turns out, it where the heart is. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 17, 2015
The script by Jeffrey Hatcher is overburdened with plot complications, but Bill Condon, who worked with McKellan on “Gods and Monsters,” has a real affinity for this actor’s capabilities. He brings out his best. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJul 16, 2015
Smart, sedate and well acted. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJul 16, 2015
Condon and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher reward your patience by bringing the threads together in a beautiful, stirring manner that celebrates the genius of the literary icon while also honoring the man McKellen is playing. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryJul 16, 2015
Like any good Sherlockian case, the stories interweave into a satisfying conclusion. And the cinematic elements fit together as neatly as the plot lines. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 16, 2015
Don't think you can take another Hollywood version of Sherlock Holmes? Snap out of it. Apologies to Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch, but what Ian McKellen does with Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective in Mr. Holmes is nothing short of magnificent. Read full review
75
New York PostLou LumenickJul 15, 2015
Mr. Holmes, derived from a novel by Mitch Cullin, isn’t quite as deep or as poignant, but amply rewards McKellen and Holmes fans willing to go with its leisurely pace. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 14, 2015
Mr. Holmes is an elegiac, understated tale of The Detective in Winter, a rare thing in its own right. Read full review
75
IndieWireMichael PattisonFeb 8, 2015
In an age of flashier adaptations of Conan Doyle’s classic literary character, Condon's film might be appreciated as a refreshingly old-fashioned outing, even with its own variations on the character in mind. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJul 16, 2015
The film’s plots are soft and flimsy, and they don’t mesh as gracefully as they might, but they do serve as an adequate trellis for Mr. McKellen’s performance, which is gratifyingly but unsurprisingly wonderful. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 16, 2015
The plot has an intriguing twist, and the production, in addition to Mr. McKellen’s commanding presence, has fine work by Laura Linney as Holmes’s housekeeper, Mrs. Munro, and by Milo Parker as Roger, Mrs. Munro’s son. The boy is vividly intelligent, ferociously angry and a force to be reckoned with. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJul 13, 2015
In truth, Mr. Holmes is not Holmesian at all. It is Jamesian, as shown by a wonderful encounter between Kelmot and Holmes — an attraction of opposites, you might say — on a garden bench. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyFeb 8, 2015
This is a ruminative film of minor-key rewards, driven by an impeccably nuanced performance from McKellen as a solitary 93-year-old man enfeebled by age, yet still canny and even compassionate in ways that surprise and comfort him. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJul 15, 2015
Although it’s a pleasant and handsome endeavor, Mr. Holmes hasn’t the consuming drive and sense of inexorability that marks the award-winning "Gods and Monsters." Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaJul 17, 2015
The case itself ultimately proves less an involving puzzle for the audience than a lesson for Holmes in humility. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottJul 17, 2015
A satisfyingly fresh take on a character we all only thought we knew well. Read full review
60
TheWrapJames RocchiJul 16, 2015
Mr. Holmes may not be the biggest or boldest recent updating of Sherlock, but McKellen’s performance alone is almost reason enough to see it on the big screen. Read full review
60
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlJul 14, 2015
Condon, like this Holmes, can't quite keep everything in his story straight and clear, but he and his film come close just often enough. Read full review
60
CineVueEd FranklJun 18, 2015
Its stately pace doesn't preclude Mr. Holmes (2015) from being a delightful romp all the same. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonCath ClarkeJun 15, 2015
Sir Ian McKellen is a pleasure to watch as an elderly Sherlock Holmes, though the drama isn't as compelling as it might have been. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyFeb 8, 2015
This is Holmes intentionally slowed down to a hobbling, reflective, end-of-life pace: dare we call it refreshing? It’s a film to rummage around in, picking up old clues, considering their meaning, and turning them in your palm. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 8, 2015
It is an elegant if slight piece of work, touching and intriguing by turns, but hampered structurally in that it relies on two separate flashback sections. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerJul 15, 2015
Mr. Holmes has moments of palpable regret and loss, but visually speaking, it looks like a blandly touching movie about a lonely old man who befriends a scrappy kid and learns about the magic of storytelling. Eventually, that’s the unexciting destiny it fulfills. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJul 16, 2015
Unfortunately, director Bill Condon and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher are clueless, and come up with an incoherent, implausible, contrived mishmash. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedJul 15, 2015
I found the whole thing pokey and plodding, but there’s no denying the fact that even when sitting through Mr. Holmes seems numbing, Mr. McKellen is a force so powerful he’s his own reward. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 16, 2015
Stories about mythic figures at the end of their days are compelling — but they still need some zing. That’s what Mr. Holmes is missing. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChris CabinJul 13, 2015
Bill Condon ignores the delights and hardships of becoming an artist in lieu of simply presenting the long-touted liberating effects of art. Read full review
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