Knives Out

Score:  A-

Directed by Rian Johnson
Starring Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, et. al.
Running time: 130 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Knives Out is a star-laden whodunnit, a sharp turn for one of Hollywood's most intriguing new directors, Rian Johnson.  Although it's not sci-fi, like Looper or his Star Wars, Knives Out similarly toys with audience expectations for a well-worn archetype.  The cast is sharp and entertaining, and while you may not agree with all the myriad ways Johnson has rearranged the furniture, you'll have a great time anyway.  Highly recommended.


A celebrity is dead, and renowned detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) is on the case.  On the night of elderly crime novelist Harlan Thrombey's birthday - with his entire family home to celebrate - an act of violence throws his clan into disarray.  While it is initially ruled a suicide, Blanc has been hired by a mysterious donor to investigate, and when he interviews the family and house staff, he finds that there are indeed some suspicious details.  Harlan had generated a considerable fortune from his writing, and motives for his untimely demise abound.  But as he finds subterfuge around every corner of the mansion, even Blanc's impressive skills are put to the test to solve this grisly case.

Knives Out has a star-studded cast, and the well-known players seem to be having a blast with their outsize characters.  While there's no clear lead, Daniel Craig's private detective Blanc is at the center of the action.  Similar to his role in Logan Lucky, Craig again shows that he can easily loosen up his acting - in a variety of ways - from the cool 007 he's best known for.  The British actor employs a heavy, sometimes exaggerated, southern drawl, and even as he shows a genial, innocent face to his nervous witnesses, he also has all the skills and attentiveness of a Poirot-style hero.  Craig seems like he might be having even more fun than anyone else, but I have to admit that his approach falls a bit too much into parody for me.  Great fun, but maybe a little too much.  The relatively plain house nurse Marta, played by Ana de Armas, is arguably the co-lead.  Unlike her co-stars, de Armas mostly plays it straight, except for a single incredible, ingenious tic.  A relative newcomer (after an impressive appearance in the Blade Runner sequel), de Armas may be disarmingly beautiful but fully inhabits her modest and quiet, while internally strong yet stressed character.  Chris Evans, famed as Captain America, also plays against type with his selfish, aloof yet calculating heir named Ransom.  Evans puts his considerable charisma to use for ill here, in particular via a scene-stealing, mid-film introduction.  Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, and Don Johnson are all great as proud siblings bickering over their inheritance - and grudges.  There are plenty of other, smaller roles that are intriguing, too, from Christopher Plummer as Harlan (in flashbacks), to the manipulative granddaughter played Katherine Langford.

Knives Out is a well-made, supremely entertaining new take on the whodunnit genre, thanks not only to its starry cast but also to a rising talent in the director's chair.  Rian Johnson has made just four other feature films including Looper, an excellent but under-the-radar sci-fi flick, and the radar-dominating - and highly polarizing - Star Wars: The Last Jedi.  He very much continues his path of subverting expectations in well-known genres; I think it works even better here, though I don't necessarily love all the individual elements (yet, anyway).  Things seem different right off the bat, as the usually crucial (and later-arriving) interrogation of suspects happens early; rather than letting the secret family histories trickle out slowly, as expected, I was jarred by how much is revealed so quickly.  Additionally, instead of slowly accumulating clues to the murder itself, we get the whole scene played out in the first half.  Thus, the film's main perspective (and therefore the audience's) is actually not Blanc's as the detective, but rather the culprit's, who I will SHOCKINGLY reveal to be lowly little Marta.  But that spoiler isn't as bad as it may seem.  I like the idea of this change of focus, but it personally made me squirm uncomfortably as I oddly began rooting against Blanc from figuring it all out.  The style and context of the film are perhaps just as important as the switcheroo Johnson pulls with the murder plot structure.  It's blatantly taking place amidst current events, and several of the characters reflect either individuals or groups (from Gwyneth Paltrow to social media pundits).  At the same time, much of the dialogue and even action is tongue in cheek or outright silly (from Blanc's hilarious fixation with donut analogies to the world's slowest care chase).  Your mileage will vary to the extent that you buy all this or enjoy it.  I found it hit or miss, but above all I appreciate the efforts of the filmmakers to try something new, providing a great time at the theater.

***

Knives Out is a strong film by itself, one of the year's better entries, but perhaps even more encouraging as a general direction for Hollywood to (hopefully) embrace.  It is a critical hit, its 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes almost unheard of for a genre film like this; audiences aren't flocking to it quite as well yet, with $27 million in the opening weekend, but a strong hold in the coming weeks could make it a financial success, too.  Admittedly, just like The Last Jedi, I wasn't sure how I felt about it as I walked out of the theater, as opposed to, say, Ford v Ferrari (on the positive) or Ad Astra (on the negative).  But I think that is mostly because Johnson is giving audiences films they haven't seen before.  Is it all for the better?  Probably not.  Still, as I harp on this blog regularly, trying new things is essential, in Hollywood as it is elsewhere.  I therefore look forward to seeing this again, hopefully soon, and encourage you to try it (or give it a second watch), too.




* By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61197044