Line #56 Film/WithoutAClue


1	[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/without-a-clue_6721.jpg]]
2
3	''Without a Clue'' is a 1988 comedy film {{parody}}ing Literature/SherlockHolmes.
4
5	The premise is that Dr. Watson (Creator/BenKingsley) created the fictional character Sherlock Holmes so that he could solve crimes incognito. His published case journals were so popular that he was obliged to hire an out-of-work actor, Reginald Kincaid (Creator/MichaelCaine), to play Holmes. However, Kincaid turns out to be a bumbling, gambling, womanizing drunkard who gladly takes all the undeserved credit for solving crimes, and now their relationship is a very rocky one.
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7	Watson is just about ready to ditch Kincaid and strike it out on his own, but no-one will believe that Dr. Watson, the archetypical sidekick, is really a GreatDetective, so the two have to get along for long enough to solve one last big case.
8	----
9	!!This film provides examples of:
10	* AffectionateParody: Of the Holmes stories, particularly their adaptations in ''Film/TheBakerStreetDozen'' films.
11	* TheAlcoholic: Kincaid always keeps bottles of liquor hidden around the house and drinks away most of his money at the local pub.
12	* AshFace: this happens to Holmes as a result of tinkering with Watson's experiment.
13	* AtTheOperaTonight: The final showdown takes place in a theatre.
14	* AttractiveBentGender: [[spoiler:Lestrade is shown exchanging flirtatious comments with the real Leslie Giles, unaware that 'she' is just a female impersonator]].
15	%%* TheArtfulDodger
16	* BadassBookworm: Watson is a medical doctor and a man of science. He's also quite fearless as a crime-solver, risking his life on many occasions, such as his shoot-outs with Moriarty's thugs and his effort to track Moriarty to his hide-out by clinging to the hull of the getaway boat.
17	* BadBoss: [[spoiler:Moriarty abandons Sebastian to be arrested at the end.]]
18	* BaitAndSwitch: The opening scenes with Holmes and Watson foiling the gallery robbery appear as though we're watching a standard Sherlock Holmes story, with Holmes as the brilliant detective. In the next scene, Watson calls Holmes an idiot for not keeping his lines and story straight, revealing the role of "Holmes" as a front and figurehead for Watson, the real crime-solver.
19	* BatDeduction: A mysterious number is given, and Sherlock Holmes uses a few long and complicated leaps of logic to deduce that it means a specific old theatre. [[spoiler:At the end Holmes and Watson explain to the person who left the clue how they figured it out, and then the victim reveals that the number was simply the address of the building he was being held at]].
20	* BecomingTheMask: Reginald has to learn how to be at least somewhat of a detective to help save the day.
21	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Lestrade and his men try nobly at the end, but end up failing miserably and having to dive for cover when the fake Leslie pulls a gun on them]].
22	* BrickJoke: During Watson's argument with his editor Norman Greenhough, Wiggins bumps into the guy. The argument continues until Watson and Wiggins leaving. After they're gone, Greenhough realizes he can't find his pocketwatch. Cut to Watson and Wiggins at the paper mill. When Watson asks what time it burned down, Wiggins takes out Greenhough's watch and says it burned down at 4:00.
23	* BladeEnthusiast: Sebastian's preferred weapons are switchblades and throwing knives.
24	* CharacterCatchphrase: Or rather catch-word in the case of Lord Smithwick, who exclaims "Amazing!" at every sentence Kincaid (as "Holmes") utters, even if it's a trivially obvious observation or a verbatim repeat of what Watson had just said.
25	* ChekhovsGun: Kincaid's production of ''The Shadow Of Death'' allows him to finish the case, although it was for totally the wrong reasons.
26	* ChekhovsSkill: Kincaid was trained in swordplay as a part of his acting career, a skill he gets to use with an impressive flourish against Moriarty. Even Watson, who [[BrutalHonesty isn't shy about sharing what he thinks about him]], is genuinely impressed.
27	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Kincaid most of the time.
28	** Kincaid's "Holmes" usually fails to understand Watson's chain of reasoning in every case. Additionally, Kincaid fails to realize that the review of his most recent stage performance ("as comical relief") was meant as ridicule rather than high praise.
29	** Similarly, most of Watson's insults (even blatant ones) serve as {{Stealth Insult}}s to Kincaid, as they go over his head:
30	-->'''Kincaid''': You mean [Moriarty]'s not trying to kill me?
31	-->'''Watson''': Of course not. He knows you're an idiot.
32	-->'''Kincaid''': Oh, thank God!
33	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Kincaid is a drunken fraud and KnowNothingKnowItAll, but he also boldly faces down a thug pointing a crossbow at him in the opening scene, boldly fires at Moriarty during the dock shootout (although he misses by a mile), and leaps into the river to try and rescue Watson after he's apparently shot while swimming away from Moriarty. Finally, he's shown to be a decent fencer in the climax.
34	* DeadpanSnarker: Watson, almost in every conversation with Kincaid. For instance:
35	-->'''Kincaid''': I'm touched.
36	-->'''Watson''': I'll say.
37	* DiagonalCut: PlayedForLaughs: Kincaid takes a swing at some candles and seems to miss. However, their tops fall off later.
38	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Kincaid, after falling onto the barge containing the villains' counterfeit money, pours alcohol from a lamp and threatens that there will be "an impromptu roasting" unless they surrender... without realizing that if he sets it ablaze, ''he'll'' catch fire, too. {{Lampshaded}} by Moriarty.
39	* DidYouDie: Reginald does a variation where he folds it into his own telling.
40	* TheDragon: Sebastian.
41	* TheDreaded: The news that Professor Moriarty is involved prompts Reginald to stop the train and try to run away as soon as Watson confirms who they're dealing with.
42	%%* ExternalRetcon
43	* FakeUltimateHero: Reginald is just pretending to be a great detective, but is in reality an actor who just repeats the lines Watson gives him.
44	* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler: Watson]].
45	* FemmeFatale: The fake [[spoiler:Lesley Giles]] manages to hold much of the police at gunpoint.
46	* {{Flanderization}}: Subverted with respect to Dr. Watson. In Creator/ArthurConanDoyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, Watson is an intelligent and competent man who lacks Holmes' genius. In many film and TV adaptations of Sherlock Holmes stories (particularly ''Film/TheBakerStreetDozen'' films with Creator/BasilRathbone as Holmes and Creator/NigelBruce as Watson), this difference in ability is inflated to the point where Watson is portrayed as an incompetent, bumbling idiot and a comic foil to Holmes. This movie inverts the trope with a brilliant Watson and a ridiculous and (until the final scenes) useless "Holmes".
47	* {{Foreshadowing}}: The UnsettlingGenderReveal is foreshadowed very early on when [[spoiler:one of Peter Giles' coworkers comments about how Leslie is pretty in an "odd sort of way" and that the religious Mr. Giles had a rather odd reaction when he said so.]]
48	* FunnyBackgroundEvent:
49	** Watson is explaining how Moriarty's thugs came to wear the imported Italian shoes, noting that as men of no moral character, they would have helped themselves to the crates of shoes. Meanwhile, Kincaid his trying on some of the shoes from the crates, obviously hoping to pilfer some for his own use.
50	** While Lestrade is explaining the case to Watson, "Holmes" is in his room digging through his closet for a bottle of booze he stashed. We just see, through the open door, articles of clothing and item items being thrown around wildly like in a cartoon, thoroughly mystifying Lord Smithwick who is trying to pay attention to what Lestrade is saying.
51	* GoneHorriblyRight: Finally fed up with Kincaid's antics, Watson fires him and offers his services to the police directly. However, he discovers that he's done such a great job building up Holmes as the brilliant detective and himself as just the sidekick that no one will take him seriously and he needs Kincaid to make the act work.
52	** Also, when Watson is believed dead, Kincaid realizes the police assume he can solve the crime all by himself and realizes just how much they've bought the act.
53	* GoodScarsEvilScars: Sebastian has a knife scar down one side of his face.
54	* GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks: Many adaptations of Literature/SherlockHolmes stories both in film and television will fill the background of Holmes' Baker Street flat with chemistry equipment. While this is true to the stories, in which Holmes would sometimes use them, in these adaptations, they're usually little more than set dressing. This tendency to overpopulate the flat with chemistry equipment was parodied here, when Reginald Kincaid (posing as Holmes) actually ''does'' do something with the chemicals - with hilariously explosive results.
55	* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: After Watson admits to his publisher (who is afraid the truth will hurt sales) that Holmes is a fictional character, the publisher asks if anyone else knows about this. Watson denies it, but after getting a raised eyebrow, admits his housekeeper and informants know the truth. Unusually, the publisher plans to threaten to sue Watson rather than harm him to keep the secret.
56	* HiddenDepths: After messing up for most of the movie, Holmes proves to be quite skilled at fencing at the showdown, holding his own against Moriarty.
57	* HypercompetentSidekick: Watson, since Sherlock Holmes is actually an incompetent stooge that fronts for Watson, the true detective.
58	* IRememberBecause: Kincaid asks a dockworker why he specifically remembers Giles renting a boat and is told that Giles (or rather the man impersonating him) had a suitcase chained to his wrist and kept complaining about the weight. This turns out to have been done to make a deliberate impression for a DeathFakedForYou gambit.
59	* ImprovisationalIngenuity: Watson does this more than once to compensate for Kincaid's bungling. When Kincaid comes charging into Baker Street basically dressed as a hobo, Watson pretends that Holmes was dressing that way for a case and bungles him into the bedroom to change back, simultaneously instructing Kincaid in the deductions he had previously made about their current visitors.
60	* InterGenerationalFriendship: Watson is very warm and trusting to the young Baker Street Irregulars, praising their hard work and fondly rubbing Wiggins' head at one point. They're clearly just as fond of him.
61	* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: Happens to a [[{{Mooks}} Mook]] Kincaid fights with.
62	* {{Malaproper}}: Due to his lack of general knowledge, Kincaid often botches the lines Watson writes for him, referring to a venomous snake as a "mambo" and stating that a murder victim was beaten to death with a "blunt excrement."
63	* MoodWhiplash: Occasionally. In particular, the rather gruesome murder of the dockworker who catches Moriarty's {{Mooks}} in the act, and the grisly discovery of Donald Ayers' body in the lake.
64	* {{Narm}}: InUniverse, the reaction to Kincaid in The Shadow of Death.
65	-->'''Kincaid''' The Shadow of Death. The gripping drama was the last play presented at the Orpheum. It closed after only one night, but not without garnering some praise. Harris in the Daily Telegram said, 'In an otherwise dismal evening, Reginald Kincaid provided some welcome laughs.'
66	-->'''Wiggins:''' Laughs? You said it was a gripping drama!
67	-->'''Kincaid:''' It's unimportant now, isn't it?
68	* NoNameGiven: [[spoiler: Creator/LysetteAnthony's character masquerades as Leslie Giles for most of the movie, but her real name is never revealed. The credits list her simply as Fake Leslie.]]
69	* PoliceAreUseless: Lestrade is mostly incompetent and Scotland Yard is often only able to identify and apprehend criminals with the help of "Sherlock Holmes".
70	* ProducePelting: Reginald played the lead in ''Theatre/KingLear'' once, but all we know is that he has "memories of rotten fruit".
71	* RailingKill: Sebastian sabotages the balcony railing of Holmes' hotel room, causing it to break when Holmes leans on it. Subverted in that he survives the attempt (the plan was actually intended to catch Watson, but he and Holmes switched rooms).
72	* RedHerring: The Windermere events.
73	* RightForTheWrongReasons: Reginald and Watson see a number on a note, and think it's referring to a bible quote. It leads them to the right place, but that number was the address of that very place.
74	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Holmes and Watson running away as the theater is about to explode.
75	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Moriarty's {{Mooks}} prove entirely unwilling to die for their boss in the burning theater, and promptly [[{{Pun}} exit stage left]].
76	* SecretKeeper: Mrs. Hudson and the Baker Street Irregulars know that "Sherlock Holmes" is just an actor and Dr. Watson is the real detective. Watson also tells his editor eventually, letting the audience hear the background behind the original deception. The only person who's figured it out on their own seems to be [[spoiler:Professor Moriarty]].
77	* SherlockScan: Played with in so many ways. Even Reginald pulls one off, leading to the right conclusion if not via the intended deduction.
78	* SomeonesTouchingMyButt: Holmes is able to deduce the identity of the groper, because he did it. Then he does it again.
79	* SpeakIllOfTheDead: When Watson is assumed dead, Lestrade condescendingly says that he wasn't a real detective and that Holmes/Kincaid shouldn't feel obliged to solve the case by the timeline Watson mentioned. [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Kincaid's gaze turns cold and he says that Watson was not wrong and he will solve the case by then.]]
80	* StaircaseTumble: Kincaid and one of Moriarty's {{Mooks}} while fighting in the Giles house.
81	* SuicideAsComedy: After believing that [[spoiler: Watson is dead]], Kincaid tries to hang himself, and of course [[BungledSuicide bungles it]].
82	* SureLetsGoWithThat: [[spoiler:After realising they've both completely misunderstood the clue the printer left for them, Watson quietly tells Holmes not to worry; he'll change their deduction for the Strand story on the case.]]
83	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: When Watson is gone and presumed dead, Kincaid as "Holmes" decides to take detective work seriously by piecing together the clues available. The best his powers of deduction can come up with is concluding that Moriarty's real name is "Arty Morty." Averted later when Kinkaid does find Moriarty's whereabouts from clues left on half-printed banknotes, albeit for the completely wrong reason.
84	* SurroundedByIdiots: Professor Moriarty has a very low opinion of pretty much everyone around him.
85	-->'''Moriarty:''' "How demeaning to be set upon by nitwits."
86	* TakeMyHand: Watson has to rescue Holmes as he dangles from a sabotaged balcony.
87	* TheDitz: Holmes. Also Lestrade.
88	* TheWatson: Holmes again. At least, for most of the movie. Explicitly ''not'' Watson.
89	* TookALevelInBadass: Kincaid was not only incompetent but cowardly for most of the story, but after Watson disappears and is presumed dead, Kincaid as "Holmes" shows remarkable persistence, courage and even aptitude when pursuing Moriarty.
90	* WeNeedADistraction: The film opens with Holmes and Watson thwarting a robbery at the Bank of England, but Watson soon realises that this was just a distraction to draw attention away from the destruction of a paper mill in another part of town.
91	* WholesomeCrossdresser: [[spoiler:The real Leslie Giles.]]
92	* UnsettlingGenderReveal
93	--> [[spoiler: '''Real Leslie:''']] You're disappointed, aren't you?
94	* UsefulBook:
95	-->'''Kincaid:''' "I have a Bible! It's at my bedside." [gets it out from under the leg of his bed that it was keeping from wobbling]

Context Film / WithoutAClue