Cutting-edge mystery Like all whodunits, what we think we see in Knives Out isn't necessarily true
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/11/2019 (1813 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Listen: Knives Out is a snappy, fun mystery movie with an unexpected dash of satiric hot sauce. If you don’t require more of a recommendation than that, it might be best to go into it fresh and stop reading here.
MOVIE REVIEW
Knives Out
Starring Ana de Armas, Daniel Craig and Chris Evans
● Grant Park, Kildonan Place, McGillivray, Polo Park, St. Vital, Towne.
● PG
● 131 minutes
★★★★ out of five
In mysteries, unlike politics, it’s sometimes better to go in not knowing too much.
That said, it is important to go in realizing that the marketing is, like the majority of its characters, deceptive.
The movie’s ad campaign would have you believe this is a fresh take on the Agatha Christie-style whodunit, with the requisite star-studded cast.
Only the latter part of that is true. After all, writer-director Rian Johnson’s script is a smorgasbord of juicy character parts. It’s all centred around aged mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), an old-school patriarch whose genius for mystery fiction has resulted in the kind of success that provides financial sustenance for his entire clan.
These include his son Walt (Michael Shannon) who runs dad’s publishing company, daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), grasping son-in-law Richard (Don Johnson), New Age-y daughter-in-law Joni (Toni Collette) and ambitious grandson Ransom (Chris Evans).
They all orbit around Harlan’s manor, which is eccentrically bedecked with murder-themed paraphernalia. (Here’s a shout-out to the brilliant production design of David Crank, which deliberately recalls the 1972 Joseph L. Mankiewicz film Sleuth.)
If you’ve seen the film’s trailer, you know that the designated victim is Harlan, who takes it upon himself to put his affairs in order on the occasion of his 85th birthday, even if that means cutting loose his nearest and dearest.
The exception to this familial housecleaning is his private nurse Marta (Ana de Armas), the one person in the household Harlan actually likes.
When Harlan is found in a state that implies he was the victim of either murder or suicide, celebrated private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) happens to show up alongside investigating officer Lieut. Elliot (LaKeith Stanfield) to dig beneath the lovingly constructed facade that the Thrombeys are one big happy family.
The big-name cast, the setting and the genre recall big, expensive Agatha Christie mysteries such as Murder on the Orient Express or Evil Under the Sun.
But the film isn’t really structured that way. Truth be told, it seems to be modelled after a Columbo TV mystery, wherein a desperate suspect struggles to stay one step ahead of the genius detective.
It’s important to point that out because, as the director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson has gained a bit of grief from fans resentful of his penchant for colouring outside the strict genre lines.
Johnson does that here too, but hopefully mystery fans will cut him more of a break.
The movie is tremendous satiric fun, with the Thrombey family of plutocrats standing in for a cross-section of contemporary American archetypes — from the Trumpist reactionary (Don Johnson) to the New Age doyenne (Toni Colette) and all points in between.
Johnson clearly loves actors, but he also loves taking them outside their own comfort zones. This is especially true of Craig, who talks in the plummy accent of a southern aristocrat.
“What is this, CSI-KFC?” quips Evans, who likewise enjoys his radical departure from the stoic straight-arrow he’s been playing in Marvel movies for the past decade.
Another thing you won’t get from the marketing: Cuban-born actress Ana de Armas is the movie’s true lead, a duty she handles with panicky aplomb.
One more thing: notwithstanding the 131-minute running time, do stay to the end. That final shot is the most sublime in recent memory.
randall.king@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @FreepKing
Randall King
Reporter
In a way, Randall King was born into the entertainment beat.
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