OnScreen Review: "Knives Out"
Ken Jones, Chief Film Critic
The murder mystery is a highly popular genre that spans across all mediums of popular culture. Movies, TV shows, books, radio broadcasts, podcasts, video games, board games, and even dinner parties utilize it. They can exist as comedies, thrillers, dramas, and just about any other genre. The one thing a murder mystery must be, though, is clever. There is nothing worse than a whodunit that thinks it is cleverer than it actually is. Rian Johnson’s follow-up to The Last Jedi is Knives Out, and it is a very clever murder mystery that is sure to entertain.
Knives Out is a crime comedy involving a rich family full of awful people. The patriarch of the family, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), is a very successful crime novelist who turns up dead the morning after his 85th birthday party. While the cause of death is determined to be suicide, a private detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), is hired by an unknown person to investigate the dead as a possible murder. Blanc, along with the help of two local policemen, Det. Elliot (Lakeith Stanfield) and Trooper Wagner (frequent Rian Johnson collaborator Noah Segan), interviews the extended Thrombey family attempting to piece together the night of Thrombey’s death and whether there is a killer in their midst. This includes, among others, Thrombey’s daughter Linda Drysdale (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her husband Richard Drysdale (Don Johnson), his son Walter (Michael Shannon), his daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette), his grandchildren Ransom Drysdale (Chris Evans), Megan (Katherine Langford), and his primary caretaker Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas).
Over the course of the investigation, Marta becomes something of a right-hand woman to Blanc, because she becomes physically ill whenever she lies, which gives Blanc some basis for getting to the truth of things. Of the ensemble cast, de Armas as Marta is arguably a co-lead with Craig as Det. Blanc (both of whom we’ll see together again in next year’s Bond movie, No Time To Die). While the Thrombey’s put up a decent front, nearly all of them are turn out to have some motivation or are hiding secrets that make them suspicious. It is slowly revealed that practically all of them are mooches of varying degrees who relied on Harlan for their livelihoods and it appears through flashbacks to the night of the party that he was cutting the cord with all of them in an act of tough love.
Johnson is a writer and director who is known for zippy dialogue and creative stories. His first film, Brick, is also a murder mystery, a neo-noir set in a high school with old Hollywood dialogue, that is a delightful mashup. In a genre of film that practically demands twists and knots in the plot, Johnson is like a kid in a sandbox given carte blanche to flex his creativity. The early part of the film is an informal questioning of the witnesses at the party the night of death/murder. It is beautifully edited, splicing together moments from each person’s questioning seamlessly to create a fuller picture of the night in question. It is also conducted by the local police, but over the course of the scene it becomes apparent that the interviews are really being conducted by the man out of focus in the back of the room who is observing it all, Det. Blanc.
Johnson also expertly sows together the story in a way that shows some of the seams for the viewers, giving some moments early in the film that perceptive viewers know will likely play out a different way when shown from a different perspective later. He gives the audience a few clues to the fact that there is something more going on than meets the eye.
What is maybe the most unique aspect of all is that it reveals the events surrounding Harlan’s death so early in the film and spends the rest of the film as something of a game between Blanc and the killer as to whether Blanc will be able to piece it all together. Of course, even that aspect has its own twist toward the end. These films always work best when they give the audience enough clues that they can’t quite figure out everything that is coming or the ultimate final reveal and resolution. Knives Out accomplishes that task by dropping enough breadcrumbs but never giving away the whole thing. And it is wildly entertaining all the way through.
The cast is a stellar ensemble. I’ve been a big fan of Craig beginning to show his acting versatility as he nears the end of his James Bond run. Given his performance in Logan Lucky and here, I am very interested in what his post-Bond filmography is going to look like. Blanc is a cerebral detective and Craig pulls off a terrific deep southern accent. Ana de Armas is a surprisingly central player in this film, and it’s great to see her getting this opportunity. After a few supporting roles in Knock Knock, War Dogs, Hands of Stone, and Blade Runner 2049, this is a performance that could lead to a breakout for her. She has the looks and the acting chops to be a bona fide star, which could be on the horizon for her.
Normally, Toni Colletette or Michael Shannon being in a movie is enough to grab my attention, but both of them being involved here is just an added bonus. Everyone else is great in their roles as well, but Chris Evans in particular also needs to singled out for his performance as the black sheep of the family, getting a chance to let loose in a role. It’s a role that is way more than just the scene where is swearing at every other member of his extended family, though that is also very entertaining. Lastly, you cannot talk about this film without mentioning K Callan as Greatnana Wanetta, Harlan’s mother who no one in the family knows how old she is. She’s the low-key MVP of the film. This is arguably the best ensemble cast of the year in arguably the best ensemble film of the year.
Knives Out is a delectable film, full of clever twists and laughs. Rian Johnson and company have put together a masterful entry in the murder mystery genre of film-making. The story is filled with red herrings and layers and layers of deceit and back-biting. It’s a fully appropriate film for the Thanksgiving holiday, as audiences can enjoy it and feel much better about their own family after seeing these awful people squirm under the scrutiny of a southern fried private eye.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars