Knives Out

If my opening night showing of Knives Out was any indication, it's clear that audiences have moved on from director Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi. 

Or perhaps the ones that hated it were just the loudest? As is usually the case on the internet. Shocker!

All fairness to Knives Out, I won't use this space to discuss TLJ and how its aged in my mind, but I stand by my review of it. Equally, Johnson still has the tremendous Looper under his belt too so I'm generally excited when he comes out with something new. 

Knives Out shocks initially with just how much damn starpower is included within. You'll recognize everyone - even the kid who has all but 2 lines of dialogue - from somewhere else. And some of the people have some serious filmography background. Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, and Captain America himself, Chris Evans (swearing a lot no less!). It's easily one of the most impressive casts of the year and it creates a fun playground for Johnson's directed/written whodunit. 

I'm having a hard time finding much to criticize about Knives Out and a lot of what a person does/doesn't like about the film will come into play regarding their thoughts about how it all wraps up. That's really the case with any whodunit or mystery novel -- did it all pan out? Does the ending make sense? Does it shock? Did you see it coming from a mile away? I found that I was definitely satisfied by the ending of Knives Out, though I'd almost want to watch it again to align on the pieces. As Daniel Craig's Benolt Blanc (fingers crossed this actually starts a series with him) explains his connections with his heavy Southern drawl, I was trying to challenge some of them, wondering how he arrived there. None are outlandish - again, I think I'd just need to see it again as he rattles them off quickly, but the ending is satisfying in a film that doesn't play out like you'd expect. I could also say that it took a little too long to get there (it drags a bit before the revealing end) and some characters are utterly worthless with < 2 mins of screen time, but by and large, this is a satisfying film. 

The name's Drawl, Southern Drawl. At your service

This shot alone cost $4.3M for 2 seconds!

Other than those mild complaints and how you'll agree/disagree with the path to the ending, Knives Out is a movie that exudes a lot of energy from the very get go. A significant portion of that comes from this incredible cast. Having that much A-list power in one setting makes it feel like a big, special film and I'm not sure it would have all had the same effect if it was a bunch of semi-recognizable actors/actresses and Daniel Craig. Largely their performances are fine, but there's something special about seeing Captain America play a huge douche, James Bond play a "CSI-KFC" detective, Toni Collette play a Instagram influencer, and Lakeith Stanfield play someone...well...someone quite reserved. As is the case with large casts like this, some get more to do than others with ultimately Ana de Armas' Marta playing the largest role opposite of Craig as she helps to track down the killer. But if you think that star power doesn't count for something, Knives Out challenges that theory as it's almost palpable the difference it makes in many scenes.

The film also garners up energy and excitement from it's perfectly set tone and style. It easily could have been overdone with corny character intros and montages, etc, but instead Johnson is almost more reserved than you'd expect by giving us a very "normal" film that's well filmed and edited. It effortlessly captures the tone of mystery, thriller, and back to mystery as it navigates the plot and the styling of the sets (particularly the main house) and music all build an effective package. And when you come to think about it, that's half the battle with a good mystery isn't it? Setting proper tone and audience engagement. Clues sprinkled throughout might tip audiences off here and there - I caught a few "easy" ones but was consistently engaged with the film because of a lot of the finer details in how it was made. 

"Are you sure you're not too old, James?"
"Now wait just a GD minute!"

If you're one of those who hated Johnson after The Last Jedi, I don't dare say that Knives Out will win you back (as I understand it, that pain runs deep), but unless you're very adverse to murder and/or mystery, I'd find it very hard to not be entertained with this film. It's superb cast adds an additional layer of fun on top of everything, the ending is generally satisfying - though I'm sure mileage will vary - and the journey itself is full of clues, twists, and wonderfully achieved tone. 

CONS

• A tad too long as it slogs before everything begins to get revealed
• I never remove points for this, but it's basically a one-time view once you know the answers
• Some characters are useless, probably would have been best to just not even include them
• Ending generally makes sense, though I think there were a couple "leap of faith" connections

PROS

• Has a lot of energy from start to finish
• Tremendous cast that A) performs well and B) adds an additional layer of fun and energy to the mystery
• Solid collection of clues, twists, and misguides create a tale that keeps you guessing
• Well written script - particularly for Craig's Blanc
• Filmed and designed with tone in mind and it achieves it 
• Fun, sometimes funny, and entertaining throughout. Who doesn't love a good whodunit?

Rath's Review Score | 8/10