Knives Out

With the exception of my wife and daughter, and possibly my mother, Agatha Christie is the woman whom I love most on this planet. She truly was the most gifted and brilliant fiction writer who ever lived, and it rejoices me to see that her work still inspires other writers and filmmakers nowadays; more than forty years after she passed away. There are still many adaptations of her original work, but with "Knives Out", writer/director Rian Johnson attempts something entirely different. It's abundantly clear that Johnson was inspired by all of Christie's typical trademarks and hobby-horses, and he pays tribute to her most legendary characters and favorite settings, but the plot of "Knives Out" is entirely new and scripted directly for the screen. A good old-fashioned murder mystery/whodunit set in the enormous mansion of a wealthy family, full of eccentric people each of whom have dirty little secrets, convoluted plot twists, continuous red herrings that practically make it impossible to guess along, and a fabulous all-knowing but slightly odd sleuth slowly unravelling the clues.

Daniel Craig is downright terrific as Benoit Blanc, a private detective with a bizarre accent and weird one-liners, hired by someone anonymous to dig deeper into the strange and sudden death of patriarch Harlan Thrombey. It looks like suicide, but literally every greedy member of Harlan's bloodline had a motive for killing and - also in delightful Agatha Christie tradition - the plot even thickens after the reading of the will. It would be a shame to reveal too much about the plot, but rest assured that is refreshing and inventive, compelling as well as humorous, complex but simultaneously light-headed and 200% entertaining. The cast is phenomenal. Craig clearly enjoyed depicting a heroic protagonist that is the complete opposite of his James Bond character, and the Thrombey family exclusively exists of great talents, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Colette, Christopher Plummer and Don Johnson. "Knives Out" is perhaps slightly too long, but never tedious, and very well-directed by Rian Johnson (who honestly doesn't deserve all this hatred from disappointed "Star Wars" geeks)

It was very hard to say no to watching 'Knives Out' and it was one of my most anticipated films since it came out. It was due to being busy and personal problems that stopped me from seeing it sooner. A lot drew me in to watching it. Absolutely love murder mysteries and seeing a lot of comparisons to one of my favourite authors Agatha Christie and the starry cast were reasons enough for me to see it, as well as the great reviews.

Found myself really enjoying, if not quite loving, 'Knives Out'. Can understand why it may not be for all, if one doesn't like seeing and hearing the truth much earlier on than they would expect, and it is easy to see the ridiculing for Daniel Craig's Southern accent (which is admittedly atrocious). Can totally understand its appeal and why it was so positively received though, because to me it was a well made, well acted and cleverly written film that shows that director Rian Johnson does have a great film in him. While not perfect or one of the best films ever made (though was not expecting 'The Godfather' or 'Casablanca' etc), it is a long way from being a 1/10 film, putting it down there with most of the films riffed on MST3K, films from SyFy and the Asylum, 'Home Alone 4', 'NeverEnding Story 3', 'Titanic: The Animated Movie' and the Baby Geniuses films is insulting. As far as 2019 goes, it is towards being one of the better films of that year if not one of the very best.

'Knives Out' had potential to be even better than it was. If it didn't overdo or repeat too much the vomiting running gag and slowed the final solution down (a suitably complicated one that is explained a little too fast for my liking) it would have been a better film.

Wouldn't have said no to the truth (well some of it was) being revealed later than it was, though even when it was placed when it was it was still in the final solution not at all what things initially seemed. The film is a little overlong as well.

However, so much works here. 'Knives Out' looks great, full of atmospheric colour, beautiful locations (the interiors of the house are especially atmospheric), stylishly photographed and slickly edited. Nathan Johnson's score has menace and energy, without feeling overused or over-scored. Johnson directs expertly with a clear love for the genre being sent up.

It is a cleverly scripted film too, shining especially in the smart and affectionate 70s murder mystery throwbacks and deliciously salty one liners and insults from Ransom. The story never felt dull to me and even when things seemed obvious too early some ingenious unexpected twists are brought in. Can totally see how Johnson was so influenced by Christie's writing, evidenced from as early on as the terrific opening sequence and with Christopher Plummer's patriarch character (a type of character seen frequently in Christie's books). A fine example of how to bring freshness to a very familiar genre often visited, while the final solution is incredibly clever though demands full attention.

Moreover, the ensemble cast, one of the best from that year, clearly have a ball. There is some delicious deadpan but also some inspired but not overdone scenery-chewing. Accent aside, Craig does a great job breaking away from his Bond image and revels being comedic in a laconic way. Plummer (RIP) is perfectly cast and while his screen time is not large he makes the absolute most of it. Ana De Armas has one of the most difficult roles and shows no signs of being taxed. Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Don Johnson and Michael Shannon all give it everything they've got. My favourite performance came from Evans, also breaking away from typecasting, he was never this witty or salty.

Overall, very, very good. 8/10

No, it wasn't perfect. No it was not Academy Award material. But it was a delightful story with lots of classic whodunnit elements. I thought we got to know each character well and, like in an Agatha Christie novel, fulfilled their roles. I thought Craig did a nice job and kept things moving along. Plummer was good in his limited screen time. Once again, I'm so fed up with people who decide that IMDB presents an opportunity to destroy a valid system by giving a movie such as this a rating of One. Do you really think this film ranks down there with Alligator Women on Venus. That's what the One ratings are for. It's usually because a film gets a little hype and those with no imagination or who are unhappy with their lives feel the need to throw everything off. Use lower ratings, but try to show some objectivity.

Generally speaking you tend to find more murder mystery TV shows than movies, this is partially since it's hard to build a complete mystery in the allotted movie running time. This movie builds this murder beautifully by showing the different points of views of the suspects. It has a different take than other movies since it gives the viewer a little too much details mid-movie which leaves you questioning everything to the last minute. The acting was brilliant and I didn't feel the number of characters was overdoing it at any stage.

As a fan of mysteries (Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Columbo, Monk, Psych.etc.) I was thrilled to see someone making a classic style whodunnit...and the cast! Figure you can't go wrong. Well I enjoyed it & while the cast all have time to shine it is Daniel Craig with his Southern drawl & especially Ana de Armas that steal the show. For anyone keeping away because they hated The Last Jedi...I agree, it was my least favourite of all the Star Wars films, but this is a well written film that was well acted and I can only hope this will inspire others to reinvigorate the murder mystery genre.