Without A Clue

One of the things I'm forever thankful to my brother for was introducing me to a Sherlock Holmes film both original in its take and hilarious throughout, the 1988 comedy Without A Clue.

Unlike in other films about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Without A Clue features Watson as the real sleuth and Holmes as a fictional character created by the doctor for the sake of his career, but whose creation becomes so popular that he must hire a second-rate actor to play the part.  When Watson decides he can live without “Holmes” and go out on his own as a detective, he finds it's not so easy to do so, and with a major case at stake, he must rely on “Holmes” to solve the case.

Definitely the most important aspect of Without A Clue was the casting of Holmes and Watson (or is it Watson and Holmes?  no matter), and in the casting of Michael Caine as “Holmes” and Ben Kingsley (in a rare comic performance) as Watson, the right actors were found.  Caine is hilarious throughout, both as the drinking, womanizing, gambling second-rate actor and “in character” as Sherlock Holmes, and Kingsley as Watson succeeds as both the foil for Caine's “Holmes” and in providing laughs of his own as a frustrated sleuth living in the shadow of his own literary creation.

In addition, laughs are also provided by performances from the supporting cast, including Jeffrey Jones as Inspector Lestrade, Nigel Davenport as Lord Smithwick and Peter Cook as the editor of the Strand magazine.  Paul Freeman, of Raiders Of The Lost Ark fame, played Professor Moriarty and gave the film much of its seriousness.

The most interesting thing about Without A Clue is the parallel in the relationship between Holmes and Watson in the film and the real life relationship between Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  As much as both Watson (in the film) and Doyle (in real life) wanted to be known for more than being the creator of Sherlock Holmes, the public would never let them be apart from each other.

A wonderful story, borrowed from a combination of Sherlock Holmes adventures, filled with hilarious nuggets of comedy and plenty of mystery and adventure to boot, Without A Clue is more than worth the price of a DVD copy.  I give it a full four stars.