Knives Out
Written and Directed by Rian Johnson
Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Christopher Plummer, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Frank Oz, K Callan.
After the evening of his 85th birthday, Harlan Thromby (Plummer) seemingly commits suicide. A week after the death, renowned detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) has been paid handsomely, by an unknown person, to investigate his death, and begins interviewing his family – including children Walt and Linda (Shannon and Curtis) and daughter in law Joni (Collette), all who have recently been cut off financially and might have had motive for his death.
Well directed, different take on the whodunit trope (where the events that transpired actually are seen in the first half of the film), with some ulterior motivations of the less than – remaining Thromby family revealed in the second half.
The characters are all well written, with the ‘expositional history’ of each of the family members given during the interview process, as well as their ‘flashbacks’ of events before Harland’s passing (which all comes together at the end). de Armas does a solid job in one of her first lead roles, and is quite adorable as the kind hearted Marta – the nurse and friend to the late Harlan. Craig, as the zany Blanc, with the ‘Southern’ accent to boot is brilliant, and the late Plummer is charming as Harlan – to those who deserve it that is. There is some humorous put downs from the primary antagonist about said accent which is enjoyable.
The supporting cast, filled with big names such as Curtis, Johnson, Collette, Evans and Shannon are all very good too, and each character is very well written by director Johnson. The screenplay is top quality, and filled with comedic moments during the flashbacks. Some of them could have been utilised a little more, but with a large cast it would have been hard to do.
The setting, which is almost exclusively set in the extravagant Thromby mansion, is warm, and filled with charm. The score which has a mysterious theme to it, is as extravagant as the setting.
I loved the cartoon photos of the cast that played over the end credits too.
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