“I feel it lives up to all the trailers.”
That’s probably some form of grand kudos you can place upon a film after viewing it. Because it’s exactly how I felt after watching Knives Out.
While the trailers are surely to tease, it does so in selective ways that only sells into the caper set out in front of us. Yes, it’s twisty which is obvious, but twisty in unexpected ways.
And Director Rian Johnson delivers this with a cast that looks to be having the most fun they’ve ever had.
Have you ever seen Daniel Craig have so much fun on-screen? Cause I have and it was in Knives Out.
Craig goes to town with Detective Benoit LeBlanc, an eccentric Southern fellow whose drawl is as captivating as his investigative manner. Surrounded by…just the most extraordinary cast, Knives Out is unrelenting in its enjoyment.
Delivering the murder of Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), patriarch of the Thrombey family, Knives Out dives into the story unsheathed. You both know precisely what’s going on and you don’t.
Johnson is intentional in so many things with this film, that it’s no surprise you know. But that’s only because he wants you to know. And then you don’t know. You know?
Dysfunction enters in the form of said extraordinary cast, and dear LORDT is it loaded. Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Katherine Langford, Lakeith Stanfield, Chris Evans and Ana De Armas in a role that shines in Watsonian way to Craig’s ‘Sherlock’.
As funny as it is twisty, the film’s only suffering is the way in which it wraps itself up leaving the audience in a place of conclusion, and then opening itself up again. But with the wondrous pace Johnson sets throughout the film, it presents almost like a second part of an ongoing saga.
With social commentary wrapped in expertly, and most likely aimed at detractors of his last piece, Knives Out is Johnson going to town with his craft and nailing it.
My new hope is that he only dares to make a trilogy of this excellent new mystery world.
Knives Out is the 'whodunnit' reborn and oh boy, is it a ride.
Also, Chris Evans sweater.
