Without a Clue

Every once in a while you see a movie that most everyone overlooks but it still strikes a cord with you. Without A Clue is a such a movie. It starts with a clever premise, Watson is the brains behind the bumbling Holmes, and while the actual criminal investiation in the movie isn't exactly a big stretch in deductive reasoning, what makes this movie worthwhile are the solid performances of Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley. The professional reviews linked with this movie would have you believe this movie isn't worth the bother, but that's not true. Caine and Kingsley seem to be having the time of their lives in this movie. (Granted Kingsley has the less flashy role but he still fills it with a great deal of subtley that the likes of Roger Ebert and his ilk must have missed) The quote page has some great excerpts from this funny movie, but there's so much more to it than just that. This one ranks as a guilty pleasure of mine, maybe not one that sits in everyone else's video collection, but it definitely holds a place in mine.

I was a theater manager in 1988. I got this movie called 'Without a Clue', and that describes what I knew about it. I never saw a preview, I had no one sheet (poster) for it......Nothing! When I put the thing together, and saw the beginning, I thought oh, no! Not another Sherlock Holmes movie! (I think they made too many as it is!) But when Watson yelled at Holmes "You idiot!", that blew me away! I sat and watched it and laughed my butt off! Unfortunately, nobody else knew about this movie either! My theater was in a small town, and everybody knew me, and I told people if you want to see a funny movie that has no sex, really bad words, you have to see this movie! On Friday, when it opened, the theater was nowhere near full, on Thursday, the night it closed, we had a good crowd, some seeing it two, or three times (our admission price was $1.00 at the time). Granted, the teen-agers didn't care for it, but the adults loved it! In fact, one lady said to me, why don't they make more like that anymore! This movie IS an overlooked gem of a comedy!

This movie is probably the finest parody of Sherlock Holmes I've ever seen . Yes , I like Wilder's "Private life of Sherlock Holmes " . Yes , Levinson's "Young Sherlock Holmes " was fun . "Without the clue" in my opinion easily beats them all . The idea here is simple , but brilliant (like the most of ideas) – what if Watson was the smart one and Holmes was an idiot ? This little movie is a great character comedy.

The movie actually really feels like a SERIOUS Sherlock Holmes movie . The music , the mood , the costumes and the art-direction – everything that is needed to bring the world of Holmes from the books on the screen alive is top-notch . Look at the beginning of the movie . Until the moment when Watson begins to shout at Holmes you could be easily fooled that this is just another adaptation of Conan Doyle's books. Hell , the whole plot is done well . If they would keep the original characterizations of the characters this would be a really good "normal" Holmes movie . This is something I feel that was lost by both Wilder and Levinson – the soul of Sherlock Holmes world .

The jokes here are simple , sometimes predictable . There are some more subtle jokes that you might miss , if you're not watching closely ( joke with the disappearing watch , joke with the violin ) . The true strength of this movie lies in the performances of Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley . I was especially surprised by Kingsley . I've never seen him in comedy before . He usually plays a rather evil and menacing characters . I've seen Caine in comedy before , so I knew he was perfectly capable to give a fine performance.

Kingsley and Caine have a wonderful chemistry together that is rarely seen on screen . They can make even the simplest line of dialogue hilarious and the interaction between them is a pleasure to watch . I seriously think that without them , the whole movie wouldn't have work . The other actors give them a good support , especially Jeffrey Jones . He's perfect for the role of Lestrade . He's got one hilarious scene when he's trying to figure out what Holmes said to him – he's facial expression is worth Academy Award . Great performance.

As I mentioned earlier the movie is very attractive visually and the orchestral music by Henry Mancini (famous for "Pink panther theme ") fits the story very well .

Overlooked and unappreciated , even now . Too bad . I give it 7/10.

Sherlock Holmes is the greatest detective to live. Unfortunately he is only a creation of Dr Watson who is the true great detective. Forced to give life to his creation Watson hires actor Reginald Kincaid to play the part in real life. However when the pair are asked to investigate the theft of £5 note printing plates they find themselves up against Moriarty and in greater danger than they expected.

It sounds like a terrible idea – other films that have messed with the Holmes story have not done well – but this comes off quite nicely. The switch of characters is funny in itself and there are plenty of nice jokes and set pieces. The plot itself is full of holes and never grips as a mystery for one minute - but it is more than sufficient to support a comedy spoof. The real enjoyment comes not from the plot however but from another factor.

The two main actors are superb and it's their class that lifts the film well above the material. Caine is excellent and is visibly enjoying himself while Kingsley also looks at ease with his co-star. Support from Jeffrey Jones and Paul Freeman is good, but really the lead duo make the film work so well.

Overall, it is not a good mystery and it is not what you'd call hilarious – but the casting helps raise the bar a bit to create an enjoyable lightweight film.

The premise is so clever. Sherlock Holmes never really existed. It was Dr. Watson (Ben Kingsley) who had been solving these cases all along, and simply hired bumbling actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to play the fake Sherlock Holmes.

To those who are hard-core Holmes fans, this film will be cherished. Sadly, the VHS is out of print in the USA (I bought mine used at a flea market), and DVDs are available only in Europe.

(UPDATE: The film has been released on DVD in the USA, but in Pan & Scan.)

Also, the film received hardly any promotion in the USA. But it is lavishly directed, cleverly written, and magnificently cast.

Everything about this film deserves exclamation points!

Track it down any way you can, and prepare to laugh out loud.