I'm a big fan of the classic Universal Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, and so naturally I was a bit weary going into this film knowing that it plays around with the basics of the classic detective stories. Well, I have to give credit to all involved as while this is not what I'd call a brilliant comedy, it's fun and entertaining and at least does justice (in a comedic way) to Arthur Conan Doyle's classic character - although that is largely thanks to excellent central performances from Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley. The idea of the film is that Doctor Watson is the real detective, while Sherlock Holmes is just an actor hired to front the investigations. However, the actor hired likes to drink and frequently annoys the 'crime doctor'! The plot itself is influenced by a few Sherlock Holmes stories but isn't - as far as I know - based on any one in particular. We follow Holmes and Watson on the case of some stolen plates, used for printing five pound notes.
The story itself takes some ideas from the classic Universal films in terms of plot - most notably The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Spider Woman. However, the plot itself isn't really important; it's not particularly in depth and clearly the point of the film was to focus on the 'tweaked' characters rather than tell a mystery story. And this works quite well! Kingsley and Caine have a good rapport with one another and work well on screen together. Michael Caine is of course the standout and delivers an excellent comic performance. There are plenty of jokes in the film, mostly stemming from Holmes' ineptitude, and some of them are laugh out loud funny - although it has to be said that these are mostly few and far between and the film is generally more likely to raise a smile than a laugh. Still, the important thing is that it's entertaining for the duration, and the film certainly is that. I'd say it falls somewhat short of 'great' but if you're looking for a fun little flick to kill a couple of hours with, then you could do much worse than Without a Clue.
The story itself takes some ideas from the classic Universal films in terms of plot - most notably The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Spider Woman. However, the plot itself isn't really important; it's not particularly in depth and clearly the point of the film was to focus on the 'tweaked' characters rather than tell a mystery story. And this works quite well! Kingsley and Caine have a good rapport with one another and work well on screen together. Michael Caine is of course the standout and delivers an excellent comic performance. There are plenty of jokes in the film, mostly stemming from Holmes' ineptitude, and some of them are laugh out loud funny - although it has to be said that these are mostly few and far between and the film is generally more likely to raise a smile than a laugh. Still, the important thing is that it's entertaining for the duration, and the film certainly is that. I'd say it falls somewhat short of 'great' but if you're looking for a fun little flick to kill a couple of hours with, then you could do much worse than Without a Clue.