Without a Clue Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Without a Clue Blu-ray Movie Review

Elementary, my dear Holmes.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 10, 2015

The enduring impact of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous creation is probably nowhere more obvious than in the fact that two of the most popular recent (and in one case, continuing) series on television were modern updates of a certain supposedly deerstalker capped detective. While Sherlock: The Complete Seasons 1-3 and the still ongoing Elementary shared the same basic modern historical milieu and at least sometimes the same locale (generally London), their take on Conan Doyle’s source material was decidedly different. Sherlock created relatively dense storylines that were further obfuscated by a lot of presentation bells and whistles, while Elementary, in its early going at least, concentrated at least as much on Holmes’ battles with various substances as it did with that week’s mystery, in an approach that reflected (intentionally or unintentionally) another adaptation of Conan Doyle’s redolent detective, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution. Sherlock Holmes’ enduring popularity has seen him transform from 19th century supersleuth to a (then) modern day hero helping to defeat the Axis Powers, as summed up in Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection. A more ostensibly faithful adaptation can be found in the vaunted British television outing Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Series. And relatively recently, there’s been an interesting if sometimes flawed attempt to reboot the iconic deducer with the likes of Sherlock Holmes and its sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows . The fact that various adaptations of Sherlock Holmes (including Sherlock Jr. ) trace back to the 1920s, firmly ensconced in the silent era, only serves as further testament to what an iconic character this really is.

Without a Clue rather insouciantly plays with preconceived notions of Sherlock Holmes (Michael Caine) and his intrepid if (at least in some depictions) naive Doctor Watson (Ben Kingsley), though it takes a while for the film to reveal its rather whimsical premise. Instead, Without a Clue begins with those very preconceptions firmly ensconced, as a know it all Holmes foils a nefarious plan, while “educating” both Watson and the (of course) befuddled Inspector Lestrade (Jeffrey Jones) as to how he cracked the case. Only in a last second pre- credits tease is it hinted at that things are not exactly as they seem (or at least as they seem in the traditional Holmes universe).

The gambit of Without a Clue turns out to be that Watson is the brains of the operation, and in fact that “Holmes” is exactly what rational contemporary audiences take him to be: namely, a fictional character. Watson, who has been selling his detective pieces to a local rag, has hired out of work thespian Reginald Kincaid to enact the role of Holmes, in a sort of marketing multimedia frenzy that provides a supposedly “real” face to Watson’s writings. In this formulation, Watson and Holmes are very much The Odd Couple, with Watson’s fussy, fairly anal retentive, qualities seeming to be the “Felix” of the pair, and Holmes/Kincaid’s nonchalant everyman ambience offering a 19th century approximation of “Oscar.”

The film is often slyly humorous, especially once Watson’s overbearing nattiness results in him firing Kincaid, only to discover no one cares about a crime solving doctor. That development of course dovetails into a major crime that expectedly involves Professor Moriarty (Paul Freeman). When it appears Watson is taken out of the picture, a hapless Kincaid is back on the “stage” as Holmes, trying to deal with both his archnemesis as well as not having a Watson around to explicitly guide his every move. The screenplay by Larry Strawther and Gary Murphy, which bears at least some surface resemblances to the Basil Rathbone entry Dressed to Kill, offers a fairly rote and in some cases predictable mystery, though in this case (no pun intended) the lack of a mind boggling quandary doesn't really pose that much of a problem for the film, since it's the juxtaposition of the characters which provides the bulk of the interest.

Without a Clue doesn’t quite rise to the giddy heights of farce that it seems to be aiming for, but it’s an often spry and quite imaginative retelling of the Conan Doyle legacy. Kingsley makes “this” Watson unbearably overbearing, something that brings a certain manic fervor to the proceedings. Caine is wonderfully daft as a somewhat addlepated but still highly egocentric actor who comes to inhabit his “role” in a way he never expected to. A lot of the fun of the film is in watching the repeatedly exasperated Watson attempt to come to terms with a completely bumbling Holmes, and Kingsley's put upon facial expressions are able to provoke laughs without even a line of dialogue. Lysette Anthony provides the distaff charms in a role that is perhaps based on some of the shadier aspects of one Irene Adler. The film is handsomely mounted with good period detail in the production design and features a winning if perhaps slightly unambitious score by Henry Mancini.

Without a Clue Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Without a Clue is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The elements utilized for this transfer are in great condition from a damage standpoint, with very little in the way of flecks or speckling to even mention. While the palette is generally accurate looking, there does appear to have been some minor fade, and that coupled with slightly less than optimal saturation keeps things from really popping some of the time. There are occasional issues with crush in several (sometimes fairly long) darker sequences. Contrast is consistent and in brightly lit environments detail is quite commendable, offering nice glimpses into busy patterns like tweedy jackets or velvety dresses. The grain field resolves naturally and as with virtually every Olive release, there are no signs of over aggressive digital intrusion into or tweaking of the image harvest.

Without a Clue Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Without a Clue features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix that offers very good support for the film's dialogue and the sweet if slight Henry Mancini score. Fidelity is excellent throughout this presentation, and dynamic range gets the chance to exploit a few peaks and valleys as the iconic pair battles wits with Moriarty. There are no problematic dropouts, hiss or other damage to report.

Without a Clue Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 2:14)

Without a Clue Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Without a Clue is one of the more winning reimaginings of the vaunted Arthur Conan Doyle hero. Kingsley and Caine make for a very enjoyable if obviously unusual Watson and Holmes, and the film nicely plays upon the audience's built in preconceptions of how these iconic characters are "supposed" to act and (perhaps more importantly) interact. Perhaps surprisingly, Without a Clue was helmed by Thom Eberhardt, best remembered for Night of the Comet , but he creates a traditional Holmes ambience while also toying with the characters and audience expectations. While the "mystery" may ultimately not be all that involving (and has at least a couple of predictable turns), the whimsy of the premise and expert performances by Kingsley and Caine make this one of the more enjoyably innovative Holmes outings. Technical merits are generally strong on this release, and Without a Clue comes Recommended.