The proceedings are held together by McKellen’s compelling performance and his deft switches between a spry 70-something and a precarious 93-year-old who looks back on his fame with amusement and regret. In one sequence, Holmes watches a film adaptation of the story that he is attempting to rewrite and concludes that the dramatisation is overdone.

Mr Holmes attacks your well-nursed beliefs about the detective in other ways as well. McKellen’s Sherlock is fallible and fragile and his deterioration is undeniably poignant. This Sherlock has found that even at the height of his powers, his weapon of choice — logic — is no match for human nature.

While this Sherlock Holmes relies on memory rather than the elementary powers of deduction to recast the case, it also proves to be a journey where he comes to terms with his own loneliness and mortality.

What makes this film brilliant is the complex and layered narrative, which has three stories that unravel simultaneously. Jeffery Hatcher’s screenplay shuttles between the past and present seamlessly making the entire viewing a delightful experience. Overall “Mr. Holmes” is a must see for all Sherlock Holmes aficionados.

At the end of his career, his powers fading, Holmes faces his greatest challenge. Having always dismissed emotions while underlining “Logic is rare”, Holmes now needs love to crack his last case. Why? Elementary, really.

An affected piece of work where the detective is in his 90s, retired, and focused mostly on his prized bees, Mr Holmes involves three very uneasily meshed storylines raised only by the quality of McKellen’s striking performance.

Sometimes, the case isn’t the point, but the man in charge of the case is, and as a character drama ‘Mr Holmes succeeds as one of the best of the year.

Ian McKellen has outdone himself with this performance. His Sherlock has depth and heart. Every actor has delivered brilliantly and the director has portrayed Old England quite believably. Great scripts are rare, and this is definitely one of them.

Ian McKellen charms in this slow, elegant look at a detective in retirement. In the fan fiction that is Mr. Holmes, the world’s most famous detective, God may be old. But it’s not time to say goodbye. Instead say hello to a new Holmes who is now all heart, mind and soul. Older, wiser, warmer, with much amusing ado made about his distinctive hat.