In this mad cap ‘whodunit?’ we’re left guessing through the twists and turns until the very end.
Knives Out is the first sleuth film since last year’s Kenneth Branagh-directed Murder on the Orient Express. The difference between the two movies is that ‘Murder’ was based on a famous Agatha Christie novel adapted many times over, while ‘Knives’ is clearly a kooky original.
In a large Victorian mansion set high up on a hill, the quintessential caper music strikes chords on the piano. We traverse the plush carpeted staircases with paisley wallpaper in which hangs the creepy portraits, the creepier sculptures, and the burgundy colored loft in the attic. It is there we find best-selling crime novelist, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) dead at his estate. It’s his 85th birthday.
Enter Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) who’s enlisted – but by who? – to investigate the murder. He’s a southern gentleman sleuth who’s been profiled in The New Yorker. Craig is so James-Bond-handsome to look at, it’s hard to get passed his forced southern accent that comes off like a bad Kevin Spacey in House of Cards.
Nevertheless, the plot thickens. The family’s uptight daughter (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her something’s-off-husband (Don Johnson) are joined by their devilish son (Chris Evans.) Michael Shannon is the good son and potential heir to the fortune. He runs his father’s literary empire, though his father refused to sell out for adaptations and streaming services of his estate. He had 80 million books sold to date…a lot of untapped cash to be had. Hmmmm…. Add to the list of suspects the ditzy widowed daughter-in-law (Toni Colette) who depended on Thrombey to pay her daughter’s college tuition. She runs a GOOP-like company called FLAM that’s wellness focused. This causes alarm as she’s as neurotic as can be, not to mention double-dipping into her daughter’s inheritance funds.
And finally, there’s the maid – isn’t there always? – but with a new twist. She’s an immigrant who can’t be found a suspect or her mother will get deported. Marta the maid is played by Ana dermas who will be next seen opposite Daniel Craig in James Bond.
They all have self-serving lies, hard theories, uh-huh moments, and multiple motives, but in the end there’s only one murderer. The film’s irony comes from the fact that the victim is a mystery writer and fell to his demise in what could have been a good plot twist for his own novels.
Writer and director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) pays tribute to masterminds like Agatha Christie, creating a modern-day classic. What’s truly amazing is that the director wanted to film this movie after Loopers but put it aside for The Last Jedi in 2017. When Daniel Craig had a gap in his Bond filming schedule, Johnson secured him in the lead role, as the other actor ensemble fell into place rather quickly. And there lies the biggest plot point of all. 2 ½ tiaras