Suppose for a moment that Dr. Watson was the real brains behind Sherlock Holmes? The result is anything but elementary! Academy AwardÂ(r) winners* Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley deliver stellar performances as a delightful duo, an 1890s Odd Couple (Los Angeles Times) in this madcapmystery that's 'the most hilarious Sherlock Holmes adventure of them all ('sneak Previews )! Dr. John Watson (Kingsley) is secretly a crime-solving genius. But to protect his reputation as a physician, he hires bumbling, boozy, out-of-work actor Reginald Kincaid (Caine) to play the part of his fictional creation, Sherlock Holmes. The charade works until Watson mysteriously disappears, forcing the baffled, seriously inept Holmes to crack the biggest case of Watson's career on his own! *Caine: Supporting Actor, The Cider House Rules (1999); Supporting Actor, Hannah and Her Sisters (1986); Kingsley: Actor, Gandhi (1982)
Without a Clue is an underrated comedy featuring stellar teamwork by two great actors, Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley. This Sherlock Holmes pastiche with a twist stars Kingsley as physician, writer, and self-effacing super-sleuth Dr. John Watson, who channels his genius for deduction into lucrative stories about Holmes. Watson wants the world to believe the fictional private eye actually exists, posing a problem when a steady stream of troubled souls come seeking Holmes's help. The doctor's prescription: hire a two-bit, drunken, skirt-chasing actor (Caine) to portray the Great Detective, an arrangement that causes Watson consternation whenever "Holmes" tries to improvise his way through a case. Wonderful comic timing and tension make Without a Clue a delight; Caine, particularly, gets a lot of mileage out of the faux Holmes's grand efforts to appear a genius. Henry Mancini's score adds a touch of old Hollywood gloss, and Thom Eberhardt (Night of the Comet) directs. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
I love this movie!:
Ben Kingsley is Dr. Watson, a man of science and logic who uses those skills to solve crimes and then writes stories about them. He's hired an actor, Reginald Kincaid (Michael Caine) to play his fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. But "Holmes" is getting on Watson's last nerve. He's getting cockier, not following instructions, and on the verge of blowing the whole scheme with his profligate ways. So Watson fires Kincaid and styles himself as "the crime doctor," but the public wants Sherlock Holmes,... more info
Absolutely Hilarious!:
Basil Rathbone: His life and his films
Shadow Watcher
Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake WITHOUT A CLUE (1988) is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. I love this movie! That said, I have to wonder why this inventive spoof of Sherlock Holmes was not a huge box-office success when it was first released. Certainly it has garnered a cult following over the years, but the mass audience has never really embraced it. Perhaps the reason is that Sherlock Holmes appeals to a more... more info
Region 2 release is NOT true widescreen:
I need to correct the review by "J. Glemby" when he states that the Region 2 release is anamorphic widescreen. It is a "faked" widescreen rather than true anamorphic. The case is correct when it says that the screen aspect is 4:3 Letterboxed. In other words, the actual frame size is 4:3 with the black bars on top and bottom as part of the frame image. With a true widescreen presentation, the black bars are generated by the DVD player/TV with the full screen resolution dedicated to the movie image. When the... more info
widescreen available region 2:
There are plenty of reviews that tell what a delightfull movie Without A Clue is.It is a crime that this is not available in widescreen for region 1 dvds.however,for all of you with multi region players the region 2 disc IS ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN.Please note the dvd case cover said fullscreen but it is most definately widescreen,not compessed screen or anything else but the real deal.I will discribe the particular disc I am talking of....it reads''itc entertainment,the silver collection,distributed by... more info
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