Hey everybody! Welcome to a brand new review, where we will be taking a look at Rian Johnson’a follow up to the Last Jedi. It’s pretty common after directing a big movie that a director would then go on to make a smaller original movie using the capital he got from his making his/her’s big blockbuster. Its something I always appreciate as the director in question gets to create their own story and give us more original work which is always a good thing. And so Mr. Johnson himself decided to follow up his Star Wars sequel with a star studded mystery and I could tell from the trailers that it was going to be something special. After seeing it I can confirm that my suspicions were correct. So lets see what he had he store with this instant mystery classic.
Without getting into too many details, lets first start off with a basic summary of what is going on. We immediately get into the thick of things as famed mystery novel author, Harlan Thrombey, has just died after his 85th birthday party. Now the police believe the death to be a suicide as it lines up with the facts they have, but a mysterious party calls in private Detective Benoit Blanc to investigate the situation. After hearing from each of the members of the Thrombey family who were at the party , and Harlan’s nurse, Marta Cabrera, (the main character here) he then decides that this was no ordinary death, but possibly a murder! So now with tensions rising between the thrombey’s, and Marta’s motives questioned, how in the world will this mystery be cracked? To find that out you’ll have to see the movie which is why I am not going to give any more story details and I’ll try my best to not give anything away in the review.
When it comes to mysteries, particularly those of the whodunit variety, you’d think you would have seen everything that the genre has come to offer thanks to the large amount of media that they span (from movies to books to even video games). Then all of a sudden something like this movies comes around to prove you wrong and breath new life into the genre. What works so well about Knives Out is how it manages to subvert audiences’s expectations in creative ways. Whereas most movies of this type would give you more information as the it progresses, here we are given a lot of information at the beginning (given in an amusing fashion by each suspect) and while that may feel like its giving away too much at first, it actually works in that as the movie does go on, it makes you constantly second guess yourself. At least that’s how I found it to be as I had some ideas near the beginning of who it could be but then as more information was revealed I found myself stopping to figure it out as I kept second guessing so much. Without revealing too much I will say that the it was very exciting to see all of the pieces come together and it all leads to an incredibly satisfying finale. What also helps make the movie investing is the dialogue which is just quotable as all heck. So many little details in the script that I just appreciated so much, and the humor is just outright hilarious to the point where I found myself dying of laughter. Heck if that wasn’t enough, it even manages to contain underlying political messages as well, which actually fit in well with the plot thematically like class inequality, and immigration being two big ones. It helps give the movie a lot of substance and makes it work gloriously a nice political satire (heck this is probably the first major theatrical release that has characters talking about the current administration). I guess my only real issue is that there are some times where the pacing can be a little uneven but it quickly gets back in its groove right after, so it wasn’t a huge problem. Really other than that this movie is nearly perfect in terms of the execution of its story.
As for the directing its very well done with Johnson taking advantage of a single location (the Thrombey household) to make craft a very unique, and detailed setting that takes advantage of a $40 million budget. I also love the way he brings a lot of energy to the proceedings with every scene just coming alive and there are plenty of nice little details like the knick knacks in the household and a couple of clever visual metaphors that I appreciated. I also want to give major props to the cinematographer, Steve Yedlin, because the film is just gorgeous to look at. Definitely helps this look, and feel like an old school murder mystery that’s for sure (this can also be attributed to Nathan Johnson’s great score for the movie). But I think what will ultimately be the main selling point of this movie is the stacked cast that was assembled here and if that’s why your excited to see this movie, trust me you will not be disappointed. The big one I’d argue is Daniel Craig who is having a blast playing against type as the eccentric, Benoit Blanc and he just goes all out here (southern accent and all). He nails the comedic moments and is just a lot of fun. I also like how mysterious his character is and how there seems to be more going on with him than at first glance. But he’s actually more of a supporting character really. It is Ana De Armas (who will coincidentally be starring in No Time Die alongside Craig) as Harlan’s trusted nurse, Marta, who is the protagonist here and the beating hear of the feature and she gives in an excellent performance gaining the audience’s sympathy as she is thrust into this situation and has an extremely satisfying character arc that pays off in the end. Then there’s the Thrombey family who all also a lot of fun to watch. I was actually surprised to see Christopher Plummer get as much screen time as he did considering who he is playing but he too is a stand out as the enthusiastic novelist with a flair for drama, Harlan Thrombey, which once again proves again why the man is an acting legend. Another member of the cast having fun going against the norm is Chris Evans as Harlan’s grandson, Ransom, who is a not a nice person at all and is responsible for some of the biggest laughs here and is a very interesting character himself. Some other stand outs in the cast would be Michael Shannon as Harlan’s son/publisher Walt as he handles both his dramatic, and comedic moments really well, Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda, Harlan’s daughter, because Jamie Lee Curtis is always great, Don Johnson as Linda’s husband, Richard, (who like Evans is having a lot of fun playing a jerk), Toni Colette as Harlan’s dead son’s wife, Joni, who is also having a blast in every scene she is in (even in bad movies she is always a highlight), and K Callan as Great Nana the oldes member of the family, and Harlan’s mother who got the biggest laughs from my audience (and also me) despite not being an old lady of few words. There were also some other characters like Katherine Langford as Joni’s daughter, Meg, Jaedon Martell as Walt’s son, Jacob, (who’s always on his phone), Edi Petterson as the hallmark loving maid, Fran, and Lakeith Stanfield as the officer assigned to the case, Lieutenant Elliot, who didn’t get as much to do but still were able to have their moments. One of the things a great mystery like this should have is a memorable cast and I think this more than fits that bill.
Rian Johnson once again adds yet another great film to his filmography with Knives Out. It is a dynamite who dunnit with a sharp screenplay, quotable dialogue, great production value, masterful directing, a phenomenal cast, and probably some more stuff I forgot to mention. Its the perfect example of taking a genre that seems to not have many new ideas left and brings it roaring back to life! If you love mysteries or just want to see all of these famous actors interact with each other you’ll get your money’s worth and its success gives me hope that we will get more original films of it ilk. Not much else to say except go see it for yourself (and don’t get yourself spoiled as well) and see how this all star murder mystery unfolds!
Rating: A
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