KNIVES OUT
Am I the only person who missed the movie Knives Out when it hit theaters in 2019? If you did, and you love slick acting and an infinitely twisted plot, then rush to see it on DVD or Amazon Prime before the as-yet-unnamed sequel comes out.
Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is a wildly successful murder mystery author whose books have earned him millions. Known for his eccentricities, Harlan lives alone in a huge and spooky mansion decorated with knives, dolls, and other creepy objects. Weakened by cancer, Harlan is tended to by his faithful and kind young nurse/companion, Marta Cabrera
(Ana de Armas). Marta is so good, in fact, that lying makes her throw up.
Harlan’s three kooky children and three grandchildren come for his birthday and stay the night. The next morning Marta finds Harlan in his study with his throat slashed.
The police show up to investigate and the fun begins, in what seems to be an Agatha Christie-like locked room whodunnit.
Or is it?
The three children, their spouses, and the grandchildren all had motive to kill Harlan. Jamie Lee Curtis as his eldest daughter is a haughty liar, her husband Don Johnson is a handsome freeloader, brother Michael Shannon has just been fired from Harlan’s own publishing company, and youngest daughter Toni Collette has been scamming her father over college
tuition money for her daughter.
Enter private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) whose Southern accent is a combination of a buttery New Orleans beignet and Carroll O’Connor in The Heat of the Night. An unknown person sent the famous detective a wad of money to investigate.
In a baggy tweed suit and suspenders, Blanc is tirelessly analytic, bouncing his ideas off the police, Marta, even Harlan’s ancient and unspeaking mother. The camera occasionally films him from below and in shadow to emphasize the actor’s piercing light blue eyes. It is just one way in which the lush cinematography embellishes the clever
plot.
What is fabulous about Knives Out is that all of the actors, with the possible exception of Christopher Plummer, are cloaked in personas that are so very different from how audiences know them. Especially Daniel Craig’s instantly iconic Benoit Blanc, who is light years away from James Bond.
Chris Evans is surly and snappy and vile; no trace of Captain America at all. Jamie Lee Curtis left her nice Freaky Friday mom behind. Toni Collette is brilliantly despairing as the ageing social media influencer. Meanwhile, Ana de Armas distinguishes herself with a mature performance that far exceeds a rising starlet reputation.
Knives Out was certainly worth the wait. No doubt the sequel will be, too, although I don’t know how it could be better.
Highly recommended.
