Knives Out (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
Writer/director Rian Johnson (Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) pays wonderful tribute to mystery writers like Agatha Christie & Arthur Conan Doyle with 'Knives Out', an old-fashioned, yet socially relevant murder mystery/whodunit that refreshes the well worn genre. Set in a Gothic mansion (with secret panels & corridors) in the Massachusetts countryside, we learn that family patriarch, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer, still goin' strong at 89), a best-selling, multi-millionaire mystery novelist is dead from an assumed slit throat suicide on the night of his grand 85th birthday party. His grudge-holding, embittered heirs eye his fortune and, hence, become the prime suspects when the possibility is raised that his death was a murder.
Coming to the estate to investigate the death are Lt. Elliott (Lakeith Stanfield) & bumbling state trooper Wagner (Noah Segan). But it is celebrity private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, fun as Hell, here), hired by an unknown party, who first deems it a murder. To this, Blanc focuses on Harlan's eccentric family: His vain, 'self-made' businesswoman daughter, Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis); her philandering hubby, Richard (Don Johnson); their spoiled, A-hole son, Ransom (Chris Evans); Harlan's earnest son, Walt (Michael Shannon), who runs his father's publishing co.; Harlan's spiteful, widowed daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette), who always has her hand out for some $$; and her struggling college-aged daughter, Meg (Katherine Langford).
Blanc grills the family & re-creates the night of the crime through meticulous examination & scrutiny {interviews, evidence}. He discovers that there's a 'doughnut hole' in the middle of the night's activities & is hell bent on filling it; his doughnut analogy become comically complicated later on. Interrogations go smoothly 'til Blanc digs deeper into possible motives. See, on that fateful night, Harlan argued with nearly everyone over $$, business, adultery, et al. But the key to the mystery may lie with Harlan's sweet, personal nurse, Marta (Ana de Armas), who has a useful trait for Blanc: if she tells a lie, she gets sick to her stomach. Flashbacks show each suspect as a liar. Any of 'em could've killed Harlan. A host of red herrings & fun twists ensue.
An old-fashioned murder mystery, a black comedy, a dysfunctional family drama & a commentary on modern politics ... 'Knives Out' juggles it all quite deftly. Despite a few niggling issues I have with it {the main reveal occurs too early, in my estimation}, 'KO' is delightful, clever & entertaining for a plethora of reasons. The screenplay sparkles with wit throughout its elaborate, revelation-heavy whodunit puzzle. And Rian Johnson crafts this solid movie-going experience with nifty editing choices, well-modulated plot momentum, effective music & superb production design {the mansion, that 'wheel of knives' centerpiece}. All that said, the film shines brightest with its cast; all of whom imbue their characters with appealingly human moments that illuminate exactly who they are, good & bad.
Speaking with a southern drawl & adopting a droll attitude towards his investigating, Daniel Craig excels in this very anti-007 role as sleuth, Benoit Blanc. Jamie Lee Curtis is loads of fun as type-A ice queen, Linda. Chris Evans sheds his heroic Capt. America image for that of a derogatory trust fund do-nothing -- he's an A-hole, but a fun A-hole. Toni Collette has a ball with every line reading as social media-obsessed, devilishly fun Joni. I loved Christopher Plummer, here. He's still one of the most charismatic presences on the big screen, ever. The rest of the supporting players {Shannon, Johnson, Jaeden Martell, etc.} are great. But best of all is Ana de Armas, whose eyes exhibit deep wells of fear, sadness & guilt in them while trapped by circumstances involving her employer's death. And yet, she remains unflappable; daughter of an immigrant mother who goes toe-to-toe with the 'big bad privileged family' and comes out ahead because of her inherent kindness.
Though 'Knives Out' excels as a Murder on the Orient Express-like whodunit, and while there are revelations galore, the film's best twist is how smoothly it moves from murder mystery to an exploration of today's insane political climate & society's current mores {each of these rich, entitled family members get Marta's country of origin incorrect; and I loved their hypocrisy & self-righteous belief that they all loved Marta: "Oh, I wanted you at the funeral ... but I was outvoted"}. 'Knives Out' is just that rare, exceptionally put-together escapist entertainment. I can't wait to see it again to catch all the sly jokes & concealed clues. And given that Ana de Armas is the heart & soul of the film ... the flawless final shot couldn't have been sweeter.
Coming to the estate to investigate the death are Lt. Elliott (Lakeith Stanfield) & bumbling state trooper Wagner (Noah Segan). But it is celebrity private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, fun as Hell, here), hired by an unknown party, who first deems it a murder. To this, Blanc focuses on Harlan's eccentric family: His vain, 'self-made' businesswoman daughter, Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis); her philandering hubby, Richard (Don Johnson); their spoiled, A-hole son, Ransom (Chris Evans); Harlan's earnest son, Walt (Michael Shannon), who runs his father's publishing co.; Harlan's spiteful, widowed daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette), who always has her hand out for some $$; and her struggling college-aged daughter, Meg (Katherine Langford).
Blanc grills the family & re-creates the night of the crime through meticulous examination & scrutiny {interviews, evidence}. He discovers that there's a 'doughnut hole' in the middle of the night's activities & is hell bent on filling it; his doughnut analogy become comically complicated later on. Interrogations go smoothly 'til Blanc digs deeper into possible motives. See, on that fateful night, Harlan argued with nearly everyone over $$, business, adultery, et al. But the key to the mystery may lie with Harlan's sweet, personal nurse, Marta (Ana de Armas), who has a useful trait for Blanc: if she tells a lie, she gets sick to her stomach. Flashbacks show each suspect as a liar. Any of 'em could've killed Harlan. A host of red herrings & fun twists ensue.
An old-fashioned murder mystery, a black comedy, a dysfunctional family drama & a commentary on modern politics ... 'Knives Out' juggles it all quite deftly. Despite a few niggling issues I have with it {the main reveal occurs too early, in my estimation}, 'KO' is delightful, clever & entertaining for a plethora of reasons. The screenplay sparkles with wit throughout its elaborate, revelation-heavy whodunit puzzle. And Rian Johnson crafts this solid movie-going experience with nifty editing choices, well-modulated plot momentum, effective music & superb production design {the mansion, that 'wheel of knives' centerpiece}. All that said, the film shines brightest with its cast; all of whom imbue their characters with appealingly human moments that illuminate exactly who they are, good & bad.
Speaking with a southern drawl & adopting a droll attitude towards his investigating, Daniel Craig excels in this very anti-007 role as sleuth, Benoit Blanc. Jamie Lee Curtis is loads of fun as type-A ice queen, Linda. Chris Evans sheds his heroic Capt. America image for that of a derogatory trust fund do-nothing -- he's an A-hole, but a fun A-hole. Toni Collette has a ball with every line reading as social media-obsessed, devilishly fun Joni. I loved Christopher Plummer, here. He's still one of the most charismatic presences on the big screen, ever. The rest of the supporting players {Shannon, Johnson, Jaeden Martell, etc.} are great. But best of all is Ana de Armas, whose eyes exhibit deep wells of fear, sadness & guilt in them while trapped by circumstances involving her employer's death. And yet, she remains unflappable; daughter of an immigrant mother who goes toe-to-toe with the 'big bad privileged family' and comes out ahead because of her inherent kindness.
Though 'Knives Out' excels as a Murder on the Orient Express-like whodunit, and while there are revelations galore, the film's best twist is how smoothly it moves from murder mystery to an exploration of today's insane political climate & society's current mores {each of these rich, entitled family members get Marta's country of origin incorrect; and I loved their hypocrisy & self-righteous belief that they all loved Marta: "Oh, I wanted you at the funeral ... but I was outvoted"}. 'Knives Out' is just that rare, exceptionally put-together escapist entertainment. I can't wait to see it again to catch all the sly jokes & concealed clues. And given that Ana de Armas is the heart & soul of the film ... the flawless final shot couldn't have been sweeter.