REVIEW | Knives Out (2019)
“A case that’s like a donut hole — within a donut hole..”
In which The Last Jedi director takes a stab at a whodunnit.
With money, motive, and a whole lot of mystery flooding the air after a wealthy crime novelist dies ominously on his 85th birthday. Famous detective Benoit Blanc is on the case to sniff out the fiend among family who might be responsible for the mysterious event.
And of course, with any crime — nothing is as they seem.
*Minor spoilers for Knives Out ahead*
Let me just start by stating that that the idea of a film like Knives Out is an example of those rare and exciting moments where two unlikely things come together to create something great.
Namely — an auteur director with a history of revitalizing movie themes like time-travel (2012’s Looper), and an underrated film genre that’s brimming with untapped potential (whodunnits).
In this case, we’re talking about a subversive director like Rian Johnson — immortalized for disintegrating the Star Wars franchise (for better or worse) — writing and directing a modern murder mystery, awesome stuff.
And speaking of great pairings — it also comes with a great cast to bring it to life.
Okay, sure… you’ve seen Christopher Plummer play an affluent old man somewhere before(like 2017’s All the Money in the World). But let’s not forget the always-arresting Michael Shannon, the always-interesting Daniel Craig, and the always-welcome Chris Evans conducting a mole-hunt on the same board together.
Not to mention, up-and-coming names like Ana de Armas and LaKeith Stanfield also being among the very impressive cast of colourful characters filling the scenes.
And as far as names go, you can certainly expect more than just the familiar when it comes to their performances — just like watching Bruce Willis playing a small-town sheriff in Moonrise Kingdom (2012), or an English Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes (2009). All equally intriguing on paper as they are amusing on screen.
So now that we have the players, let’s talk about the play.
While most detective movies are complex from start to finish, Rian Johnson not only managed to craft an absorbing mystery that invites your investment — but also a twisty feature-length fiction that brings you along for the ride in a sleuth-sidecar.
Much like a mystery-origami that’s slowly unraveling fold-by-fold, as opposed to a convoluted Rubik's cube that’s made to be solved.
I mean, with this film, as soon as you think you have an idea of what’s actually going on or where the plot is going, it politely pulls a fast one and resets your suspicions by subverting any expectation.
And without revealing anything about the plot — I can say that whatever positive gut-feeling you have about Knives Out will be surprisingly, delightfully, and impressively met. With characters sparking unique chemistry, plot devices scattered like a cosmic puzzle, and a generous amount of hi-jinks to spice up any story (seriously, this movie is a killer-good-time).
All things considered, Knives Out is a refreshing roller-coaster ride through the murder-mystery park with something for everyone.
Pacing very much like a novel, and yet it’s really unlike any of its novel-inspired counterparts — not that there’s anything wrong with Murder on the Orient Express (2017).
The solid storytelling would’ve been good enough, the well-written narrative would’ve been asking for a lot, the wonderful character performances would’ve been more than enough —
— and yet this film is all of that, and so much more.
Case closed.
