grantss
A very funny, clever and original telling of a Sherlock Holmes story. Rolls along, with fun and great humour. Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley are in fine form as Holmes and Watson. Good support from Jeffrey Jones, Peter Cook, Pat Keen and others.
Spikeopath
Without a Clue is directed by Thom Eberhardt and written by Larry Strawther and Gary Murphy. It stars Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Lysette Anthony, Jeffrey Jones, Matthew Sim, Paul Freeman, Pat Keen, Matthew Savage and Nigel Davenport. Music is by Henry Mancini and cinematography by Alan Hume.Sherlock Holmes (Caine) is really a second rate actor hired for incognito purposes by the intelligent crime solver Dr. Watson (Kingsley). Tiring of him getting all the praise, Watson tries to dispense with the oafish Holmes' services. However, a major counterfeit case rears its head and Watson, with a bumbling Holmes in tow, must set aside differences to try and crack the case.The premise is role reversal and it makes for a lovely entertaining movie. Oh the plot itself is hardly ingenious, and the absence of Kingsley's Watson for a good chunk of the last third of the movie is sorely felt, yet the japery and chemistry of Caine and Kingsley see it safely home.Caine as Reginald Kincaid as Sherlock Holmes is a buffoon, a hard drinking pratfaller in waiting, someone who is not beyond peeking through a keyhole to ogle a shapely thigh. And Caine has a ball with the role! On the other side is Kingsley's Watson, continually irritated by his companion in crime solving, he's grumpy and stomps about like a spoilt kid. Kingsley also has a ball.Holmes aficionados will appreciate the characterisation of Inspector Lestrade (Jones), since he's played as clueless, while the Baker Street Irregulars (Savage sprightly), Professor Moriarty (Freeman not in it much and not playing it for laughs really) and Mrs. Hudson (Pat Keen wonderful and really given a character that impacts on the jollification on show) keep the Holmes/Watson world vibrant.Elsewhere Lysette Anthony raises the temperatures with her beauty and sexuality, whilst thankfully getting a character written as more than just an ingénue. Mancini strings together a jaunty and period themed musical score, while the Victorian production design is authentic and pleasing on the eyes. So all in all, one or two quibbles aside, it's good wholesome fun that is well performed and constructed by the makers. 7.5/10
blanche-2
Michael Caine is "Without a Clue" as Sherlock Holmes in this 1988 film also starring Ben Kingsley, Jeffrey Jones, Lysette Anthony, Peter Cook, and Nigel Davenport.In this story, the real brains of the operation is Dr. Watson (Kingsley) - he solves a case, but because he was up for an important position at the time, he made up the name of a detective and told the police that he had solved it. The name he made up was, of course, Sherlock Holmes.When Holmes becomes in demand, Watson goes out and finds a drunken, womanizing actor (Caine) with gambling debts and has him front for him as Holmes.Watson gets fed up with Holmes, as does Mrs. Hudson, who loathes him, and at one point, they throw him out of 221B Baker Street. Watson tries to take an important case of counterfeit 5 pound notes himself, but the people involved only want Holmes. Watson has to go to a bar and talk him into returning.Very good concept that becomes a little bit slapsticky (though funny) in the middle of the film -- its strong points are at the beginning and at the end of the movie."Without a Clue" is a little bit silly, and with actors like these involved, it should have been a much stronger script. The performances are all excellent. I just wish it had been a little better.
ianlouisiana
Third-rate actor Reginald Kincaid is hired by Dr John Watson to impersonate Watson's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and thus take some of the spotlight off the author whose place at a Teaching Hospital could be jeopardised by the publicity surrounding his most famous cases. He has tried to discard his creation but the public will not hear of it nor are they interested in his proposed new series "John Watson-Crime Doctor",so he is obliged to endure Kincaid's drunken incompetence and cover up for all his faux pas. Hired to recover printing plates stolen from the Treasury,Watson and his fumbling assistant embark on a dark and dangerous adventure. "Without a clue" is a quite brilliantly witty take on Victorian values and morals and an anachronistic delight at the same time.The music by Henry Mancini is full of Gilbert and Sullivan parodies as well as perfectly in - period melodies.Possibly his most fitting since "The Great Race". Mr Michael Caine is in inspired form as Kincaid/Holmes,gifted with maniacal energy and completely unjustified pride in his thespic abilities.However,just once,in a splendidly choreographed swordfight,his theatrical experience helps win the day as he fences with Rathbonian skill and elegance,"I almost killed 6 men a week - 8 if you count matinees",he quips nonchalantly,backing his opponent into a corner. Mr Ben Kingsley,only slightly more restrained,obviously enjoys this rare foray into comedy. Only the most po - faced of Sherlockians could object to this affectionate and knowledgeable unofficial addition to the canon.
AD
