Before ‘Beetlejuice,’ Check Out Michael Keaton’s Powerful Gem
Memory Loss Gives the Crime-Thriller ‘Knox Goes Away’ a Taut Through Line
Next month Michael Keaton will be seen in theaters around the world playing the demonic lead character in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. While I’m certainly looking forward to that, Keaton can be enjoyed right now in a much different kind of performance that resonates deeply: the movie Knox Goes Away, available on streaming services.
The two movies are horses of a different color. As you probably know, Beetlejuice blends the horror, fantasy, and comedy genres and is designed to attract huge audiences. It strikes me as one of those films where extremely well-known actors like Keaton stand to make a killing, given that the movie has a $150 million budget, according to The Movie Database.
In contrast, Knox falls into a category that I think of as “lovingly crafted gems.” It was shot on a limited budget with no rehearsals, according to an article in Forbes. Because Keaton directed and produced it — as well as took on the lead role — it’s clear that his heart was really into this project.
In the same Forbes article, he said: “I’m naturally picky, but I knew the script was good, and you don’t see many of them. You see some that are pretty good, but it’s only occasionally that you go, ‘Oh, my God, this is great.’”
That script, by the way, was written by Gregory Poirier.
Knox takes on the theme of dementia, but with a different twist. This is no “Oh no! Sheila’s losing her mind” kind of flick. Yes, I jest. But more seriously, Knox is unlike other movies I’ve seen that tackle memory loss, such as The Father (featuring Anthony Hopkins), Still Alice (Julianne Moore), or Away From Her (Julie Christie).
While all three were beautifully told dramas, Knox is in the crime thriller genre and is largely told from the standpoint of a contract killer. The central question it asks is: what would you do if you knew that your memory was going to be completely wiped out in a couple of weeks? And along with that, there’s a second question: would you be willing to walk a very dangerous tightrope in order to give a priceless gift to someone you love — a person who renounced you long ago?
Keaton plays a hit man named John “Aristotle” Knox who grapples with both of those situations. The master criminal architects an intricate plan that will throw some L.A. detectives way off the scent as they seek to unravel two sets of murders. Aristotle is in a race against not only from the cops, but also from time, as his mental acuity quickly slips away.
The severity of Aristotle’s mental problem becomes apparent early on when he makes a dreadful mistake during a hit. He tries to clean up the botched job as best he can but realizes that he’ll only dupe the cops for so long.
About that time, his son, Miles (James Marsden) pays him a visit. Miles got himself in very deep trouble when he became so enraged that he killed a slimeball who sexually entrapped his naïve daughter. While the father and son have been estranged for many years, Aristotle decides to use his last remaining days as a cogent person to help his son cover up the crime.
He’s aided in this task by a fellow hit man, Xavier (Al Pacino), who helps Aristotle keep on track as he spins his complex web of deceit and his mind disintegrates. The audience is kept guessing, how Aristotle’s sometimes-strange actions are going to lead to any kind of successful result.
Marsden (Jury Duty, Dead to Me, X-Men) is in very fine form here, as is Pacino. While Pacino is a Hollywood icon, I haven’t always loved his performances. But in this film, he’s very on point with a kind of “aged Romeo who’s also a killer” persona. Other outstanding performances come from Marcia Gay Harden, one of the most talented actresses of her generation, who plays Aristotle’s ex-wife with resigned anger mixed together with a not-quite-squeezed-dry love.
There’s also some amusing performances on the other side of the law — most notably a chief of detectives played by Suzy Nakamura (Dead to Me, Curb Your Enthusiasm), who trades sarcastic banter with her underlings and is no slouch in the brains department. Because that cop storyline is intertwined with the story of a murderer attempting an honorable act of love, the movie becomes far more than just a black-and-white study of who might be “right” and who “wrong.”
In the end, Knox Goes Away is the story of a professional criminal seeking redemption during his final cogent days on Earth. And for Keaton, now 72, this might be a chance to create a personally satisfying work of artistry. Blockbuster productions with comic-book-like characters can be loads of fun, and undoubtedly lucrative, but they only go so far when it comes to artistic satisfaction.
