In an attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle, Ian McKellan reunites with Gods and Monsters director Bill Condon for an unessential movie that amounts to little more than fan fiction of Sherlock Holmes. Based on Mitch Cullin’s A Slight Trick of the Mind, Mr. Holmes finds the famed detective at the end of his life, going senile, and rewriting his final case.

Sherlock Holmes, now 93 years old, lives in a country house with a put-upon housekeeper/nurse, Mrs. Munro (Laura Linney) and her ever-curious son, Roger (Milo Parker). Holmes is now suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and struggling with the loss of his memory and intellect. He has to write names on his arms and clothing to remind him of everybody’s names, and has spells of severe disorientation and fear. Still, he has enough energy to impart what knowledge he has left to Roger, whom he takes under his wings to figure out the mysterious death of bees in their country hive.

Because Condon can’t just focus on one story, Mr. Holmes has just returned from a trip to Japan in search of a mystical herb or plant intended to slow memory loss, and jog his brain. On top of that, Sherlock is busy rewriting his “last case” about a woman “haunted by her past” who seems to come under the spell of a mystical musical instrument.

Condon’s inability to streamline a complex novel hinders depth to any of the stories, each of which could serve as a film unto themselves. The retelling of the final case, to its detriment, blatantly recalls Hitchcock’s Vertigo, giving Holmes an ending that is more fitting to the progressive ideals of modern political correctness. The story of his journey to Japan never goes anywhere useful. Both of these stories are given only enough screen time to severely neuter the main plot, keeping it from developing into something meaningful and deep. With a relatively short 104 minute running time, Condon doesn’t allow any story to stick around and breathe.

It’s a shame too, because McKellan is a wonder to watch in the Sherlock role, especially in the original Sherlock timeline. Laura Linney also turns in a stellar performance that reveals depths to her character that the movie never has the time to revel in. Unfortunately, these stellar performances are trapped in a movie that feels too much like a rote exercise than a well developed passion project.