Without a Clue (1988)
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.
More Michael Caine movies here!
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.
More Michael Caine movies here!