Knives Out

Release Date: November 27, 2019
Runtime: 130 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Lionsgate
Director: Rian Johnson
Cast: Daniel Craig; Jamie Lee Curtis; Chris Evans; Michael Shannon; JToni Collette; Don Johnson; Ana de ArmasKatherine Langford; LaKeith Stanfield; Christopher Plummer

Oh, what fun this movie is! There is something so very satisfying about a well-crafted murder mystery like Knives Out, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson’s contribution to this beloved subgenre. Juicy performances, an engaging plot that doesn’t challenge your attention, and a denouement that wraps things up tighter than the airlock in a space shuttle.

The less said about the actual plot the better, but here’s the gist: absurdly wealthy publishing magnate Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer – Supporting Actor award-worthy) dies of an apparent suicide immediately following his 85th birthday celebration held at his eerily gothic New England mansion (there cannot be any other kind in a movie like this). Gathered for the party are the cast of assorted suspects murder mysteries require: Harlan’s daughter, Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis); Linda’s husband, Richard (Don Johnson), Linda and Richard’s trust-funded playboy son, Ransom (Chris Evans), who is right out of a mid-80s John Hughes movie; widowed daughter-in-law, Joni (Toni Collette) and her daughter, Meg (Katherine Langford); Harlan’s son, Walt (Michael Shannon); Walt’s timid wife, Donna (Riki Lindhome); and Walt and Donna’s alt-right teenage son, Jacob (Jaeden Martell). Also in attendance is Marta (Ana de Armas, in a star-making role), Harlan’s personal nurse and confidant in his final days who may or may not have more to do with Harlan’s death than anyone realizes.

Probing the circumstances surrounding this unexpected death are a pair of naïve cops (LaKeith Stanfield and Noah Segan) and one detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig – deliciously cartoonish in a character begging for his own franchise), who has been hired by an anonymous employer to investigate foul play and basically to give the audience a guide with whom to uncover the clues with.

Rather than drawing Benoit Blanc (let’s be real…one of the best character names ever!) as a bumbling dolt in the mold of The Pink Panther’s Inspector Clouseau, Johnson and Craig originate an instantly memorable detective who is just over-the-top enough in his part-Hercule Poirot, part-Foghorn Leghorn characterization to work. Murder mysteries like Knives Out work best when the characters are colorful and their motives are shady, and Johnson and his talented cast obviously relish the opportunity to develop their rich and quirky characters. Collette is a standout (as she is in everything she does) as a hilariously new-agey flake and it’s a hoot to watch the usually hyper-intense Shannon channel his intensity in a more offbeat direction.

Johnson ingeniously contextualizes the narrative for modern times within the framework of the traditional murder mystery. The director’s infusion of social and political commentary into his screenplay works in crafting an updated, contemporary version of a classic genre. There is a funny running gag, for example, in which no one can properly pinpoint which country Marta is from. The indirect cluelessness and obliviousness of these grossly rich, white weirdos is mined for lots of subtle eye-rolling and exposes Johnson’s inclination to call attention to the up-to-the-minute socio-political atmosphere in which we find ourselves. Johnson even throws in a lively debate scene (without naming names) between the liberals and the conservatives in the family. It’s a brilliant touch and rings true both because of the political climate nowadays and, more palpably, since everyone has moments like this when family members of differing political affiliations go at it. It’s a 1920s murder mystery for the Trump age that you didn’t realize you needed.

Part of the fun of these movies, too, is the setting: the creepy old house, the secret passages, the strange decorations adorning every room and hallway of the mansion. Set decorator David Schlesinger and art director Jeremy Woodward must have had a lot of good fun pimping out the Thrombey mansion to make it look like it came directly out of an Agatha Christie novel.

But the real treat here is the introduction of Craig’s Benoit Blanc, a character whom Lionsgate (which released the film) would be foolish not to create a franchise around (assuming the movie makes money, which I see no reason why it shouldn’t). He’s a sharp, yet eccentric and dubiously accented detective with a franchise-ready name in the tradition of similar detectives throughout literary and filmic history. I look forward to the next installation in the Benoit Blanc mystery series!