KNIVES OUT – Review

A dead body, a dozen shady characters, and an elegant country house filled with rooms and weapons. Those are the ingredients for KNIVES OUT, a farcical revival of the old fashioned whodunit that audiences are being served this Thanksgiving holiday. It’s a big entertainment which manages to well-capture the magic of the bygone era of all-star mysteries while providing modern twists and hearty laughs along the way.

Christopher Plummer plays Harlan Thrombey, a millionaire publishing baron whose greedy children, in-laws, and grandchildren have lived off of his generosity all their lives. . When the family assembles at Thrombey Mansion to celebrate the patriarch’s 85th birthday, stress and strain are obvious as the old man has announced that he has, for one reason or another, cut off the family’s gravy train. This makes everyone at the gathering a suspect the next morning when Thrombey’s nurse Marta (Ana de Armas) comes to wake him up only to find his throat cut ear to ear (this is the opening scene – not a spoiler – the time-line jumps back and forth). The murderer’s row of colorful would-be killers starts with Harlan’s unpleasant real estate mogul daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis). Or perhaps the murderer is Linda’s unfaithful husband Richard (Don Johnson). Or maybe it’s their cocky son Ransom (a particularly smarmy Chris Evans). Then there’s Harlan’s cagey son Walt (Michael Shannon), who’s just been booted from the family publishing empire. There’s also Joni (Toni Collette), the widow of Harlan’s late son who’s been caught taken advantage the old man’s largesse by double-dipping into his payments for her daughter Meg’s (Katherine Langford ) college expense. That’s two more suspects. The maid Fran (Edie Patterson) has a drug problem, and then there’s Marta, who’s been considered part of the family for years, yet nobody seems to be sure where she’s from (Uruguay? Paraguay? – a funny running gag). A pair of detectives assigned to the case (Noah Segan and Lakeith Stanfield) can’t decide whether this is a suicide or foul play, so agree to let flamboyant private investigator, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig sporting a Yosemite Sam southern drawl), who’s been hired by someone (?), to help them interrogate everyone in the house. When questioned, each insinuates that another family member had a stronger reason to want Harlan dead. None can be trusted to tell the truth, except perhaps Marta, who has the unfortunate habit of projectile vomiting when she lies. Giving away more than that wouldn’t just be unsporting, it would be difficult, because from this point, KNIVES OUT is off and running with a plot that subscribes to the old screwball comedy philosophy that you can sell the audience just about anything if you do it fast enough. As the entire plot twists are whizzing by, you may not notice that eventually KNIVES OUT falls short in the satisfying level when all is said and done, at least in terms of who the culprit is (or if there was even a murder at all). So if you’re in this for an Agatha Christie-style mystery, or have some hope of getting a jump on the characters and figuring it out in advance, you may or may not be out of luck. But if you’re open to a weirdly atmospheric comedy that sprints from deadpan to manic and back again, it’s a delight. The cast is all working at the top of their game. The largest role is given to the star with the shortest resume. Ana de Armas, so loveable as the sexy hologram in BLADE RUNNER 2049 is given a lot to do in a demanding role but keeps up with her more seasoned co-stars. Daniel Craig plays it way over-the-top, and while it takes a while to get used to his accent, it eventually fits into the spirit of the film.

The script and direction by Rian Johnson are clever and dynamic, the cinematography and set design ravishing (the circle of knives displayed in the film’s ads is just one of the many glorious eccentricities of Thrombey Manor). One minor complaint with KNIVES OUT is the climax when Blanc assembles all the pieces for us, defines all that has happened, and revisits the timeline to explain events in flashback. It’s a classic murder mystery trope, but usually consists of the movie’s final ten minutes, not the final thirty (I was thinking ‘Let’s get on with it’). But still, KNIVES OUT is a lot of fun, like a party on the screen to which we have all been invited.

3 1/2 of 4 Stars