It feels like I cannot remember the last time I had such pure fun at Teh Movies as I did with Knives Out. I was expecting as much, because writer-director Rian Johnson is a goddamn treasure, but this surpassed even my very high expectations. Johnson has outdone himself, and found a sort of cinematic zen balance between his early ultra-quirky films — 2005’s high-school noir Brick, his kooky and wonderfully unclassifiable con-artist dramedy The Brothers Bloom, from 2008 — and blockbusters like his Star Wars: The Last Jedi from a couple years ago with this.
Knives Out is the sort of movie we used to see in the 1970s: adult-skewing but with a blockbuster vibe. Oddball but with undeniable mainstream appeal. It’s an Agatha Christie–esque murder mystery, at once deliciously retro and decidedly modern, with an all-star cast-of-thousands in which any of your favorite faces could be the killer. It’s effortlessly suspenseful, keeping you guessing right till the end. It’s big-name actors being funny, actors whom you may not have realized before could be funny (or have forgotten, because it’s been so long). But it’s a dry funny — so dry. Deadpan, even. So much dead. I was dead by the end, wrung out by pleasure.
Not as killed, however, as Christopher Plummer (Boundaries, All the Money in the World). He is Harlan Thrombey — *ahem* — a murder-mystery novelist, and he turns up dead the morning after his 85th-birthday party. As the film opens, his big extended family has gathered at his gloriously gothic Addams Family–style mansion for the funeral, and soon for the reading of his will; Harlan was hugely successful and very wealthy, and there’s a lot of money to go around. Or so his delightfully horrible adult children and their horrible spouses, and their mostly adult, mostly horrible children, hope.
And also there is Daniel Craig’s (Logan Lucky, Spectre) Benoit Blanc, a detective famous in a way that detectives have not been since the 1930s, or the 1880s, and yet he is anyway. Blanc is there to investigate the death, which had been ruled suicide, except someone — the anonymous person who hired Blanc — thinks maybe it was murder. He will interview the suspects — that is, the family members — in the bonkers sitting room dominated by a wall of knives, so that it looks like they’re all trying out the Iron Throne to see how it fits their nasty asses. Much of the tale is told via flashbacks as the suspects– er, the grieving relate the events of the evening in question. Who can we trust? Probably no one.
One of the absolute joys of this entirely entertaining jape is how it feels bigger than it is. Blanc comes complete with a whole history that is only hinted at yet feels as rich as his silky Southern accent; you walk out of Knives Out wanting to instantly take a deep dive into all the other juicy mysteries you know he has solved. Every character here is a tapestry of gleeful awfulness the quantity and quality of which is only just barely scratched. Particularly amusing is Chris Evans (Avengers: Endgame, Snowpiercer), as Harlan’s asshole grandson Ransom; you can taste the exuberance with which the actor is running fast in the opposite direction from the wholesome Captain American persona that has defined him for the past decade.
But everyone is having fun here, and it is infectious: Toni Collette (Hereditary, Please Stand By) and Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween, Veronica Mars) and Michael Shannon (What They Had, 12 Strong) as horrific people with strong motives for murder; LaKeith Stanfield (The Girl in the Spider’s Web, Get Out) and Ana de Armas (Blade Runner 2049, Overdrive) are, respectively, the cop accompanying Blanc and Harlan’s nurse, and since they’re not family, they’re nice… or are they?
When I say that anyone could be the killer here — if, indeed, there was even a murder at all — I mean it. This is not a movie the twists and turns of which you will guess in advance, and whenever you think you’ve got it all figured out, the movie will trip you up again… and you will love it for tricking you. My face hurt from grinning the whole time, and I can’t wait to see it again and again. Knives Out is going to be one of those movies that, when I come across it while channel-surfing in a couple of years, will suck me in every time. If you could design a movie to be Everyone’s Favorite Movie, this is what it would look like. Except there’s nothing so crass or calculated about Knives Out. This is honest popcorn nonsense, rendered with care to be endlessly diverting.
viewed during the 63rd BFI London Film Festival
soo looking forward to this… always loved those casts of dozens all of whom have a motive…
This film can be as heavy and rich or light and fluffy as you want it to be, like some miraculous everlasting everything-cake baked up by a band of brainy Oompa Loompas.
If you want endlessly diverting popcorn nonsense described in the review, it’s there, and it’s delicious. However, if you’d prefer a serious murder mystery with unique twists and turns and real consequences for well realized and acted characters, that’s there too. It’s both a hilarious parody of Christie and a loving homage to Conan Doyle. If you’d like to read it as a critique of American history, or a criticism of capitalism, or a skewering of American immigration policy, or a humorous examination of the hypocrisy of celebrities and the wealthy in general, all those readings are readily available as well and probably many more.
Whatever angle you approach it from, it’s a lot of fun and will keep you guessing and chuckling for its entire run time. The only weakness is a slight pacing issue near the end of the second act and a somewhat predictable final twist, but all in all this is about as perfect as a murder mystery movie can get. It’s easily R. Johnson’s most polished work and the third major Hollywood release this year (after Alita and Terminator: Dark Fate) with a young latina at the center of the story. I hope this trend continues and that this film, unlike the previous two, will net a nice profit for everyone involved.
Natalia Reyes, who played Dani Ramos in Terminator Dark Fate, endeared herself to me even before I saw the film with an anecdote about being called in to audition and thinking that, as a Latina actress, the part was going to be Maid #3 or Prostitute #14, and when she saw Linda Hamilton there, she thought, “this must be a really important maid”. Funnily enough, the three Hollywood films I’ve enjoyed the most in 2019 have been the three you mentioned with Latina leads: Alita, Dark Fate and Knives Out.
So much fun! I’ve been looking forward to this one for months, and was not disappointed.
I’m pretty sure the movie “plays fair” with all the mystery elements, too. No surprise revelations that aren’t supported by something we’ve seen. I was able to figure out big pieces of the mystery, but not quite how to put them all together, which I think is the sweet spot for this sort of thing.
I’ve seen it twice now, and I’m pretty sure that everything we need to know is there from the beginning. There’s no cheating, and it all works.
Just saw this two nights ago, and it was really good. This was one of those movies I could tell I was going to like right away when I saw the trailer, and that proved to be the case. Plus I’ve always loved mystery movies, and this one looked like it was going to be some real damn good fun—which it was. And it’s funny on top of that. Even Daniel Craig was funny as the detective, and the film does go through these twists and turns that you definitely don’t forsee–every time you’re certain it’s going to go way, it goes in another, just enough to make you wonder what the hell’s going on. Anyone who loves mystery movies needs to see this one—it’s a real gem. And, yeah, it was cool to see a Latina have one of the main leads for once, even while playing the help.
MaryAnn – 2 comments:
1. Saw this movie over the Thanksgiving weekend here and it is EXCELLENT. What a joy it was to see a “Movie” (with a capital “M”) and not some generic “franchise” movie or reboot/sequel/etc.
2. Just wondering: Have you reviewed any of the “Up” series, as well as the new 63Up? I didn’t see any reviews on your website.
Thanks!
I’m impressed that you found this website, Mr. Scorsese.
I have not seen or reviewed any of the Up series. Sorry.
My wife and I saw this Saturday. Your review pushed me over the edge!
We both loved it. Lots of fun.
Daniel Craig was so great as a southern detective.
I agree with Amanohyo about the pacing and the somewhat predictable ending, but its very minor to the overall experience.
Great film.
This is what I like to hear. Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the film.
Surrounded by this much talent, and taking third billing, Ana De Armas is a goddamned treasure in this film.
Don’t worry, she’ll be flooded with offers any minute now and starring in a major franchise, just like Rinko Kikuchi and Quvenzhané Wallis and Auli’i Cravalho.
Perhaps demonstrating your point, but I didn’t know who Auli’i Cravalho was and had to look her up. As for Ana De Armas, she’s going to be in the next James Bond film, and is also playing Marilyn Monroe in another film.
Loved that the trailer fully disguised the fact that she’s really the main character.
SPOILER!
Don’t worry, it really isn’t.
I’d say that arguably, she and Benoit Blanc share the protagonist’s role, though it takes a while for that to become clear.
I knew Rian Johnson was properly on my wavelength when I listened to the director’s commentary of The Last Jedi and he mentioned hiring Adrian Edmonson to play a First Order Captain because he was a big fan of The Young Ones. One of the many things I loved in Knives Out was, as you mentioned, the larger world of the characters evident in glimpses. The scene with Marta and Harlan talking and playing go felt so warm and pleasant. I really felt the companionship between these two, an honesty in how this rich old man with a grotesque family and no real friends has formed a sincere connection with a young woman in his employ, that is (thankfully) entirely platonic. Something about that really touched me. I love seeing friendships that cross sex and generational divides. All the cute clever quirkiness works too, which is miraculous. What a wonderful time at the Movies.
Absolutely loved it. And it did indeed keep me guessing right to the end.
I think that if Johnson really wanted to, he could make a whole franchise out of Blanc’s mysteries. Craig’s character is that good. Can his Bond please just have a Southern accent now? I can just hear him reciting the recipe for the Vesper Martini with it.
This just cements my opinion that Rian Johnson was the second-best thing to ever happen to Star Wars. Can’t wait to see whatever he does next.
I was actually still guessing all during the credits: I would not have been at all surprised if a post-credits sequence had thrown in another twist, such as, perhaps, that:
Marta actually DID plan the whole thing, knew about the change in the will, deliberately killed Harlan, and fooled everyone — including Benoit — into thinking that she was just a nice sweet kind innocent. And got away with it all.
Although it is absolutely lovely that she actually is a nice sweet kind innocent, too.
Craig’s Bond with Blanc’s accent…solid gold. Even if only for one blissfully farcical scene where James Bond adopts the accent as part of an infiltration masquerade. The new Bond films could do with a few more whimsical touches like that. No need to go full Roger Moore, but after the dreary Spectre such levity would be welcome.
Between Knives Out and Jojo Rabbit, 2019 has been a pretty good year for ridiculous accents. And if Taika Waititi directed a Bond movie, I’d almost consider watching it.
Loved it. But if Benoit Blanc becomes a franchise, we’ll know that you’re the one who suggested it.
Took my parents to see it on Christmas day – it’s a relatively new habit we have on Christmas, thank you movie theaters for being open that day – because I knew they would love it. Mom’s already a genre buff – Murder, She Wrote, Spenser novels, the Midsomer Murders series (I told her KO was Midsomer but with more profanity) – and afterwards she pointed out where the movie deconstructed (she groks that trope) the standard Christie murder plots, and yet she agreed the movie still stuck to the familiar landing and in a great way.
Mom was curious about why I kept laughing at Chris Evans’ potty mouth. She’s not into the MCU like I am. “Mom, that’s Captain America…!”
Mom did ask me when I figured out who the murderer was. I told her it was when (redacted) mentioned (person) was better at (activity that’s a key plot point early in the movie) than (redacted) was.
But… why?
Because (additional information withheld pending official review).
I think I’ll be seeing this again on Saturday, but this time with the audio commentary by Rian Johnson!
https://knivesout.movie/#commentary
Oh my, yes. Just pure, wicked, wicked fun. And after all that has gone before, the last shot is perfection.
This movie was superb, but The Last Jedi was deeply flawed. ‘Twists’ do not make a movie good.
Where do I argue this?
If you want to talk about *The Last Jedi,* comment on that review.