Without a Clue

Without a Clue is a 1988 British comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley and Lysette Anthony.

Plot

The film's premise is that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character created by Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley) to enable him to solve crimes incognito during a period when he was applying for a post at a reclusive medical practise. Although he failed to get the position, to satisfy public demand to see Holmes in person, he hires alcoholic unemployed actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to play him. "Holmes" and Watson put a stop to a museum robbery, with Watson doing most of the work, but the press only wants to hear from Holmes. When "Holmes" begins hogging the spotlight, a jealous Watson fires him, writes the character off, and tries to start a new series about "The Crime Doctor." However, he must call Holmes back when the British Government wants Holmes and no one else to solve a mystery involving Bank of England £5 banknote printing plates and a printing supervisor, Peter Giles, that went missing the night of the museum robbery. With these stolen, the collapse of the British Empire's economy would prove inevitable.

Inspector Lestrade (Jeffrey Jones) is jealous of Holmes' apparent sleuthing skills, and takes every opportunity to spy on Holmes and Watson and to steal their ideas. The path of clues leads them to team up with Peter Giles' daughter, Leslie (Lysette Anthony) and a twelve-year-old Irregular, Wiggins (Matthew Savage). Just when Watson and "Holmes" discover that Professor Moriarty (Paul Freeman) is the mastermind behind the scheme, Watson is apparently killed in an attempt to capture Moriarty, forcing "Holmes" to solve the case on his own. Having tracked the villain to an abandoned theatre, "Holmes" discovers Watson still alive, the two working together to free Giles and defeat Moriarty, Kincaid demonstrating his sword-fighting skills in a duel with Moriarty. Presented with a new appreciation of each other's strengths, Watson turns down Kincaid's 'offer' to retire, assuring the public that they will continue their detective work.

Context

The film is one of several spoofs that have been made of the canonical Sherlock Holmes. This particular spoof has two notable features. Firstly the main characters have been reversed, with a bumbling Holmes and genius detective Watson replacing the usual bumbling Watson and genius detective Holmes. Secondly, in the film Watson tires of his fictional creation, Holmes, and tries unsuccessfully to terminate his role, but is forced to bring him back by popular demand. This mirrors the real life situation of the author Conan Doyle (also a physician) who tired of his fictional creation Holmes and tried unsuccessfully to kill him off.

Cast

Reception

At the time of its release, the film was poorly reviewed. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes shows an average of 56%^[1].

Roger Ebert gave the film a mere two stars^[2] further stating:

"Without a Clue" begins with the premise that Sherlock Holmes never existed; that the man known as "Holmes" was, in fact, a third-rate actor named Reginald Kincaid, and he was hired by Dr. John Watson to play the role. This is an amusing premise, but it is not enough.^[2]

Vincent Canby writing for the New York Times stated that Without A Clue was "an appallingly witless sendup of the Sherlock Holmes-Dr. Watson stories".^[3]

References

External links

• Without a Clue at the Internet Movie Database
• Without a Clue - Summary