2019’s Knives Out,
written and directed by Rian Johnson.
Starring Craig Daniel, Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Ana de
Armas, LaKeith Stanfield, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon,
Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Riki Lindhome, Frank Oz, and Christopher
Plummer.
What is it about?
Successful crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher
Plummer) suspiciously dies after his 85th birthday. Alert to the
possibility of foul play, Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan), Lieutenant Elliott (LaKeith
Stanfield), and Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) meet with the family, to
sift through the pivotal night’s slew of interpretations. Along the way, they have
to contend with a multitude of entitled family grievances, and coy misdirection.
Luckily, the ex-patriarch’s sweet nurse, Marta (Ana de Armas), is helpful-but
has her own secrets to protect. With multiple interests and various levels of
intrigue within the bickering family, will Blanc be able to successfully solve
the suicide mystery without letting them lose his mind in the process?
Why is it worth seeing?
Throughout his career, Writer/Director Rian Johnson has
proven that he is more than capable of delightfully subverting expectations.
Through his body of work; whatever it be a quirky neo noir set in a present day
high school setting, a futuristic time travel crime thriller that spends its
last half on a farm, or a Star Wars installment
that takes risks and breaks blockbuster canon, it almost feels inevitable that
his next project was a murder mystery whodunit. As in his past films, Johnson
can’t help but make joyful references to the genres he’s honouring. Whatever
through an entranced character who breathlessly shushes someone for
interrupting a detective’s lengthy summation of the evidence presented thus
far, or another character bringing up the film’s similarities to the game of Clue, Johnson knows this is a road well
travelled before- but makes it feel fresh while winking at us.
It could be the way the film is self aware, acknowledging its influences and its post modern aspirations, but its script, regarding an unpleasant family of respective bloodlines fighting to get paid, never goes for the glib or cynical. Its characters exist in a world that is well known but never deviates into eye rolling dismissal of the family in their situations. The film’s principle setting of a classic mansion, filled to the brim with characters who are least technically related, fighting for their entitlement of an inheritance, are people we can all relate to- not because of their humanity, but because of their reliability. Who actually built themselves up from nothing? Certainly nobody born after Christopher Plummer’s magnate. Maybe it’s Daniel Craig’s take on the practically operatic character of (wait for it) Benoit Blanc, who does the eye rolling for us, when not sarcastically playing the piano in the background or belting out showbiz tunes while waiting for a bizarre errand to be completed. In a film filled with eclectic personalities, the English actor’s take on a (yet again) Southern accented gumshoe who’s always a step ahead of everyone else is as delightfully over the top, as it is honorific of Columbo and Jessica Fletcher.
Grounding the proceedings, in a film packed with zany bits by well known movie
stars and character actors (Chris Evans in particular lays spectacular waste to
his previous Marvel depiction), is relatively unknown Ana de Armas. While some
may know her fabulousness from bit parts in past films (Hands of Stone and War Dogs),
I was delighted to spend more time with Ryan Gosling’s digital muse from Blade Runner 2049. Either way, it
appears she won’t be a secret for much longer. Her role as the family’s nurse
who gets very ill when she lies,
shines the brightest amongst a virtual sea of gems. Armas’ turn as an immigrant
(whom the family refuses to figure out where she is actually from) is equal
parts sweetness, gumption, and panic, in trying to fulfill a dying man’s last
wishes while not getting her family deported. It’s the perfect vulnerable fulcrum
from which to base the script’s madcap dashes to get to the what Blanc calls
the truth.
What is more of the truth, is while the follow up to Rian Johnson’s last film disappoints critically and commercially, Knives Out is the most fun movie of the year, a critical darling that made money at the box office, while still boasting impressive technical prowess. It looks and sounds great, adding just the right amount of texture to the film’s twisty plot and hilarious outcomes. While Plummer’s character, that of the crime thriller author who makes a decision to set the pivotal events in motion are a little unclear, the film’s script is gleefully aware of its proximity to worn out cliché and overwrought unreliable narrator experiences. And it never loses sight of how much joyful it is to watch people try to fool you with their hooey, to stick it to your relatives, and to let justice maybe have its day in court. Just try feeling unsatisfied by the film’s final image. What could be more classic for a Hollywood film?
It could be the way the film is self aware, acknowledging its influences and its post modern aspirations, but its script, regarding an unpleasant family of respective bloodlines fighting to get paid, never goes for the glib or cynical. Its characters exist in a world that is well known but never deviates into eye rolling dismissal of the family in their situations. The film’s principle setting of a classic mansion, filled to the brim with characters who are least technically related, fighting for their entitlement of an inheritance, are people we can all relate to- not because of their humanity, but because of their reliability. Who actually built themselves up from nothing? Certainly nobody born after Christopher Plummer’s magnate. Maybe it’s Daniel Craig’s take on the practically operatic character of (wait for it) Benoit Blanc, who does the eye rolling for us, when not sarcastically playing the piano in the background or belting out showbiz tunes while waiting for a bizarre errand to be completed. In a film filled with eclectic personalities, the English actor’s take on a (yet again) Southern accented gumshoe who’s always a step ahead of everyone else is as delightfully over the top, as it is honorific of Columbo and Jessica Fletcher.
What is more of the truth, is while the follow up to Rian Johnson’s last film disappoints critically and commercially, Knives Out is the most fun movie of the year, a critical darling that made money at the box office, while still boasting impressive technical prowess. It looks and sounds great, adding just the right amount of texture to the film’s twisty plot and hilarious outcomes. While Plummer’s character, that of the crime thriller author who makes a decision to set the pivotal events in motion are a little unclear, the film’s script is gleefully aware of its proximity to worn out cliché and overwrought unreliable narrator experiences. And it never loses sight of how much joyful it is to watch people try to fool you with their hooey, to stick it to your relatives, and to let justice maybe have its day in court. Just try feeling unsatisfied by the film’s final image. What could be more classic for a Hollywood film?
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