Knives Out - Review Thread

Quite possibly the most entertaining movie I've seen all year.

I will watch a Benoit Blanc franchise. Having said that, we need to stop overrating Rian Johnson.

I would have to imagine that as a Hollywood filmmaker there's probably no greater opportunity than being asked to direct a Star Wars film. It's the biggest franchise there is and likely ever will be, and being able to not only direct an entry to it but also write an original screenplay furthering the direct plot line of Luke Skywalker is something that most could only dream about let alone get to do. Well, for Rian Johnson that was the reality just a couple of years ago when he released Star Wars: The Last Jedi and his life changed forever. But even he couldn't have predicted that his life would change as it did; no doubt he knew his career would never be the same, but after putting out the most polarizing Star Wars film ever (a shock considering Disney has been pretty vanilla otherwise with their Star Wars entries) he was met with intense criticism and furious scorn. The man who rose to darling prominence directing some of the best episodes of Breaking Bad and the well liked features Brick and Looper was now in the eye of the storm. I was a big fan of Johnson as the choice to direct based on his credits I just listed, but I was not overly pleased with the results of The Last Jedi. On one hand it was the answer to everyone's cries about The Force Awakens being a retread of A New Hope, as The Last Jedi is clearly the boldest and riskiest Star Wars ever that I certainly have to give credit to Johnson for having the guts to attempt, but on the other hand I think that less worked than did in that movie. Still, no matter what one's opinion on The Last Jedi is, Rian Johnson won the battle as he's now pretty much got the green light to make any passion project he wants to, a much needed break for him I'm sure from the pressure cooker that is Star Wars. So now two years later we're treated to Johnson's latest film, Knives Out, which is a refreshingly modern take on a kind of movie we just really don't see much of anymore, harkening back to the star-studded whodunnits of Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express where the sheer A-list power of the cast outshines the thin mystery at the center. While Knives Out's cast doesn't boast the clout of having Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, and Ingrid Bergman in the same frame, it's ripe with the same kind of idea of having a compelling mystery at the core idea of any of these big names could be the killer. While Knives Out isn't quite as clever as it should be due to stepping on its own toes one too many times, Rian Johnson has crafted a fun throwback film that's always entertaining and that I'm happy to see being made once again.

Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is the patriarch of a large family who has amassed a fortune working as a prolific mystery writer, like a modern Agatha Christie. After a party at his estate celebrating his eighty-fifth birthday, Harlan is found dead with his throat slit, due apparently to suicide. The family is interviewed individually by police, including famous sleuth Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), and it becomes clear that while they're certainly troubled by Harlan's death, they're far more concerned with the enormous fortune that's now up in the air. Money is clearly what motivates their relationships to Harlan, and Johnson has made none of the family members very likable or redeemable in any fashion. Harlan's daughter, Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), and her husband, Richard (Don Johnson), both want the estate and the continued flow of cash to keep their business intact and their spoiled son, Ransom (Chris Evans), en tow. Harlan's son, Walt (Michael Shannon), heads the publishing company and has clashed with his father about expanding the brand to movies, audio books, whatever he can to milk the mysteries for all they're worth. Everyone in the family is painted by their dubious motivations and backstabbing gossip of one another, all of which Blanc notes with his southern drawl and musings. But at the real center of all this is Harlan's caretaker, Marta (Ana de Armas), who plays the largest role in the mystery and serves as the viewer's detective, attempting to corral the mystery of Harlan's death as well as the family's bickering. 

Without getting into spoilers, it's certainly easy to admire what Johnson has pulled off here. It's not a mystery predicated solely on a final twist, but rather continually shifts elements on the viewer so that even when Marta thinks she's got it all sorted out another curveball gets thrown into the mix and we're back on the trail. The final sort of reveal itself though is a bit predictable, and it's odd that Johnson doesn't lean on Harlan as the mystery writer with a flair for the dramatics to be more involved in crafting this whole affair as one might have expected. It seems like a lost opportunity that Harlan could have made that would both offer up a satisfying little game he concocted while also needling his greedy family, but instead Knives Out is predicated on quite a bit of convenience that even Benoit Blanc can't entirely explain away. Knives Out also suffers from the same issue the Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express does, in that the mystery isn't so much solved through action but explanation. It's a lot of Blanc telling us the aha moments and not as much of Johnson showing us them as one would like, as it takes the viewer out of figuring out the mystery and leaving it to the onscreen sleuth that we're slightly removed from. This format works to an extent, learning about characters through interview-style questionings and figuring out the red herrings and obvious suspects from there, but Knives Out doesn't expand on the family members much outside of the initial introductions and it becomes clear that as tightly woven as the twists themselves are that Johnson doesn't have as much up his sleeve as you might hope for. Similarly to Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express, we've got a massive ensemble cast here that isn't really given a whole lot to do and are all pretty similar to one another in the end. While the whole affair of Knives Out is always a lot of fun, it's hard not to examine all the pieces laid out on the board and not feel a bit underwhelmed at what could have been.

Despite my issues with some of the plot and a lack of imagination when it comes to constructing the dynamics of the Thrombey family, Knives Out is certainly a delight to watch, which is exactly what it's constructed to be. The performances all around are fantastic, and seeing so many veteran actors squabble and chew scenery with one another is a blast. It's never as funny or quirky as it could be, but then again it's not entirely a bad thing that Johnson has reigned his cast in so the events never border on parody either. Johnson throws a lot of ideas out there, some of which don't stick especially when the film attempts to bring contemporary political issues into the fold, but despite some shortfalls the mystery at the core of it all is one that's simple yet very well constructed all the same. While your jaw won't end up on the floor after all of the twists have been revealed, Knives Out scores points for being such a well handled and entertaining yarn that Hollywood either doesn't make anymore or makes very poorly these days. It's a crowd pleaser that's expertly crafted by Rian Johnson, and is a delightful throwback to the Hollywood of old that I'd certainly welcome more of.

7/10

Decent flick. Johnson should definitely focus his attention to non Star Wars stories. I think it lost a little bit of steam midway through, when part of the mystery was solved. At that point, some of the story beats and characters decisions felt obvious.

Really cool cinematography though and some decent dialogue, but I don't think it's one of the years best.

Moviebuff's entire first paragraph was bragging about how smart he is.

Who would've thought a Rian Johnson film would be one we all universally agree on two years removed from Last Jedi.

We don't universally agree on this.

The Last Jedi needed more Ana De Armas

Right now I'm imagining sets SnoBorderZero works on with the common phrase of "Stop milking the actresses, goddammit!"

I can, just has to be from a court determined distance.