Rating of
3.5/4
Knives Out Provides Razor-Sharp Wit, Fun
Chris Kavan - wrote on 12/06/19
I first became aware of Rian Johnson with Brick - starring a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt in one of his first, big post-3rd Rock from the Sun films circa 2005. It was a modern noir - dark and twisted, full of interesting characters and a great plot. I knew this was a director to look out for and, all these years later, Johnson is still putting his mark on cinema.
Knives Out is a great homage to the classic murder-mystery. Everyone is a suspect, motives abound and you have a world-famous detective on the case. From Agatha Christie to Sherlock Holmes to Murder She Wrote - it's all mixed in with a clever story, biting wit, political commentary and drops of dark humor. Helping out matters is the stunning cast that Johnson has amassed: Daniel Craig (sporting a charming southern drawl) is the famous detective Benoit Blanc, who has been anomalously given a stack of cash to investigate the death of Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), himself a world-famous mystery novelist. By all accounts, he died by suicide in the early morning hours following his 85th birthday - an event his family had all gathered for. But Blanc, along with officers Lieutenant Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield) and Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan) must investigate every angle.
Thus we are treated to a rogues gallery of suspects in this eccentric family: Linda Drysdale (Jamie Lee Curtis) who has followed in her father's footsteps and created her own thriving business, along with her husband Richard (Don Johnson). Their son, Ransom (a wonderfully animated Chris Evans) is considered the black sheep of the family - a do-nothing trust fund kid who Harlan still had an affinity for. Then there is Walt Thrombey (Michael Shannon), youngest son and operator of the vast publishing arm for Harlan along with his wife, Donna (Riki Lindhome) and his son, Jacob (Jaeden Martell). Joni Thrombey (Toni Collette) is the widow of Harlan's other son, and runs her own wellness company Flam (an obvious cipher for Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop) along with her daughter, Meg (Katherine Langford. The family is rounded out by Harlan's own mother Greatnana Wanetta (of an unidentified age) played by K Callan. Finally you have Harlan's personal nurse, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas) and the housekeeper Fran (Edi Patterson).
Johnson does an excellent job of setting the stage, as Harlan has conflict with each of the branches of his family at some point during the night before his death. But it turns out that Marta (who may be from Equador, Uraguay, Paraguay, Cuba or Brazil according to various members of the family) who holds the key - which is good for Detective Blanc, as she also has a very telling quirk - she gets physically ill any time she tells a lie. Thus it is up to Blanc, via interviews with each family member, to unravel the timeline and figure out if anyone could have murdered Harlan and made it look like a suicide.
Like many of the best mysteries, Knives Out keeps you guessing. While it seems to reveal the true story fairly early on - it keeps throwing twists out at you, leading up to an excellent conclusion. I also like the quirks Johnson gives these characters - Martell's Jacob is never seen without a phone in his hands - and is called an alt-right troll, a Nazi and a creep at various times - and Johnson has gone on record saying he represents the "manbabies" who came out of the woodwork after his work on The Last Jedi. Likewise, Langford's Meg (the closest family member Marta can call a friend) is the left-leaning liberal - but isn't without her own faults. But it's truly Evans who is having the most fun here - Ransom is just the kind of role he needed after playing Captain America for so many years - and he sinks his teeth into the fun of it all, even when he's being a jerk. Likewise Armas shines as the clear protagonist, caught in the middle of this scheming family while pondering the future of her own.
Knives Out is a great example of how bringing together an excellent cast, a talented director and a superb story makes you realize superheroes aren't everything and sometimes you need a good mystery to clear the palette.
