Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

As the tagline says, watch Without a Clue to "meet the world's greatest detective, and his bumbling partner." It's a film with the famed literary detective duo, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but in this version, it's Dr. Watson who's the genius. Sherlock Holmes is an idiot! I absolutely love this movie, and I can't recommend it highly enough. Even if you've never seen a Sherlock Holmes movie or read a story, you'll still love it. The jokes are both clever and hilarious, which is a rare and welcomed combination. In the entire 107-minute running time, there might have been a collective ten minutes in which I wasn't laughing myself silly. Several times I had to press pause and guffaw, waiting to resume the film until I'd composed myself. Thank you Gary Murphy and Larry Strawther for writing such a side-splittingly funny movie.A perfectly hysterical script is a good start, but if bad actors with lousy timing deliver the lines, the movie will be terrible. Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley have a wonderful chemistry together, and they both add so much to their roles. While anyone else might play Sherlock Holmes as an ordinary doofus, Michael Caine puts himself in the moment so the blunders are really unintentional. He isn't playing dumb; he means well and happens to be stupid. I'm convinced anyone else cast as Dr. Watson would have played him with more of an angry, jealous, resentful edge. Ben Kingsley is enormously kind, so even when he's frustrated with Michael Caine, the audience can tell he's still a caring person and enjoys his rapport with his lesser half.When they're attacked by Paul Freeman's henchman, Michael Caine gets really upset and worried. Ben Kingsley reassures him that he isn't the real target because Paul is only trying to stop the smarter of the two. "He knows you're an idiot," he says, with only good intentions behind the remark. There's a beat before Michael Caine's response, and the audience thinks he'll certainly take offense, but instead he sighs, "Oh, thank God!" It's one of my favorite jokes in the film, since it shows the adorable combination of sweetness and comedy that runs through the script.If you've had a bad day, Without a Clue will cheer you up. If you've had a good day, Without a Clue will make it better. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy. Renting it once won't be enough.

Sherlock Holmes (Michael Caine) is actually a drunken degenerate gambler actor hired by the brilliant Dr. Watson (Ben Kingsley) to hide his hobby of detective work. Watson has enough of the idiot and throws Holmes out. Only Mrs. Hudson (Pat Keen) and the Irregulars know the truth. Watson tells his publisher Greenhough (Peter Cook) who threatens to sue him. Inspector Lestrade (Jeffrey Jones) and Lord Smithwick (Nigel Davenport) of the Treasury have a new case for Holmes. Nobody is willing to trust Dr. Watson with a case and he has to hire Holmes back. £5 banknote printing plates has been stolen orchestrated by Prof. James Moriarty (Paul Freeman). Suspicion falls on long time employee Peter Giles leading to his daughter Leslie (Lysette Anthony).Caine and Kingsley make a surprisingly good comedic team. It's always funny to have people fall over themselves for Holmes while they dismiss Watson. This is an inventive and fun spin on Sherlock Holmes.

The celebrated legendary fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes becomes the source of much humour in this wacky comedy written by Gary Murphy & Larry Strawther and directed by Thom Eberhardt ("Night of the Comet"). The premise here is that Sherlock Holmes was an invention of the sly Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley), who loved to dabble in crime solving as well as work as a physician, and was forced to create Holmes as a cover so that his reputation in medicine would not be tarnished. He subsequently hired boozy, clueless actor Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to play the role. The trouble for Watson is that nobody will take him seriously and they always want to talk to "Holmes", so Watson has to put up with his bumbling partners' ways as they set out to solve the case of missing plates (for printing money) and a missing employee from their mint. This works merely okay as a mystery, as it mainly mines all of its situations and characters for all of the laughs possible. It never really catches fire - so to speak - but is often engaging enough, and funny enough, to make for pleasant if not uproarious fare. The recreation of Victorian England is effective, and there are some atmospheric moments along the way. The real joy is in seeing Kingsley and Caine showing off their comedy chops; Kingsley basically plays the straight man and does a lot of reacting to Caines' appealing buffoonery. A fine supporting cast is just as enjoyable to watch: Paul Freeman (Belloq from "Raiders of the Lost Ark") as the nefarious Prof. Moriarty, Lysette Anthony as the fetching Leslie Giles, Jeffrey Jones as the intrepid Inspector Lestrade, who's portrayed as not being terribly competent himself, Nigel Davenport as the worried Lord Smithwick, Pat Keen as the angry Mrs. Hudson, and Peter Cook as grumpy Norman Greenhough. The movie does go on for quite a bit, losing a bit of its momentum at times, but the lively performances help to keep it always watchable. Caine is marvelous, whether he's goosing a woman or trying to break down the name Moriarty. (Arty Morty?) Overall, a good if not great comedy. Seven out of 10.

Without a Clue (1988) directed By Thom Eberhardt is amusing, consistently very funny, impeccably acted Comedy/Crime/Mystery. The greatest mystery remains why this movie is so overlooked? This is a comedy that has got all the right elements, took the beloved classics of mystery genre, looked at them from different angle and retold them in the most enjoyable way. Two of the great modern actors were perfect as beloved characters that were created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and became real for millions of fans. In the movie, though, we are presented with the situation that it was Dr. Watson who not only had documented his celebrated friend's most famous cases but who actually had the outstanding deduction, analytical, and observation skills and had solved the great mysteries of his time. Dr. Watson also had the writing talent and created his alter ago, the eccentric detective, Sherlock Holmes. The stories of Holmes' adventures had become wildly popular. Dr. Watson hired the local actor named Reginald Kincaid to impersonate the legendary detective. Kincaid (Michael Caine) certainly looked the part but by his own confession, he couldn't detect horse manure if he stepped in it! In addition to that, he was drunkard, womanizer, and a gambler. As played by Caine, he is absolutely hilarious and very charming. The best and funniest scenes belong to him. How he was trying to figure out the meaning of the evil Professor Moriarty's name is one of all time's funniest scenes. I've been fascinated by Caine's versatility for many years. If there is an actor who can play practically any role, be dramatic, moving, chillingly scary or comically brilliant and always convincing and joy to behold - it is Caine. Ben Kingsley (not a Sir at the time but Oscar Winner already) was also exceptionally good as easily irritated but brilliant, brave though greatly underrated Dr. Watson. As a huge admirer of two gentlemen from 221B Baker Street, London, I am happy to recommend the film to any fan. I believe that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would've enjoyed it. He had a wonderful sense of humor which shines through all Sherlock Holmes stories even the darkest ones and I believe he would've appreciated the idea of Holmes and Watson switching roles.