They Might Be Giants (film)

Plot summary

Justin Playfair (Scott) is a millionaire who retreats into fantasy after his wife's death, imagining himself to be Sherlock Holmes, the legendary fictional detective. Complete with deerstalker hat, pipe and violin, he spends his days in a homemade criminal laboratory, constantly paranoid about plots hatched by his (Holmes's) archenemy, Professor Moriarty.

When his brother (Lester Rawlins) tries to place Justin under observation in a mental institution so he can get power of attorney, Justin attracts the attention of Dr. Mildred Watson (Woodward), a psychiatrist who becomes fascinated by his case. Justin demonstrates a knack for what Holmes describes as "deduction" (technically better categorized as abductive reasoning) and walks out of the institution during the ensuing confusion. Watson comes to his home to attempt treatment. Playfair is initially dismissive of Watson's attempts to psychoanalyze him, but when he hears her name, he enthusiastically incorporates her into his life as Doctor Watson to his Holmes.

The duo then begin an enigmatic quest for Moriarty, with Playfair/Holmes following all manner of bizarre and (to Watson) unintelligible clues, and the two growing closer to each other in the process.

Cast

Defining quote

The title is an indirect reference to Don Quixote's famous exploit of tilting at windmills, believing them to be "monstrous giants". Despite the protest of his aide Sancho Panza and being soundly defeated at the hands of the "giants" (that is, being tossed away by a mill's sail after getting his lance caught in it), Quixote maintains his belief that the mills are not buildings but giants. In reference to this, Playfair argues:

Of course, he carried it a bit too far. He thought that every windmill was a giant. That's insane. But, thinking that they might be... Well, all the best minds used to think the world was flat. But, what if it isn't? It might be round. And bread mold might be medicine. If we never looked at things and thought of what they might be, why, we'd all still be out there in the tall grass with the apes.

Critical views

The film opened to mixed reviews. Vincent Canby of The New York Times described it as "a mushy movie with occasional, isolated moments of legitimate comedy." Leonard Maltin was a notable critic to hold it in good esteem.

It has a 78% positive rating from 9 reviews on the movie-review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.

Releases

Intact copies of the film are difficult to find. Most home video releases have been edited. The original release length was 98 minutes. Netflix's streaming version and the DVD released in 2000 are 91:15. A version edited for television in 1986 was 96:29. The currently available made-on-demand DVD runs slightly over 87 minutes; the longer versions include an extended scene in the grocery store.