Knives Out: A Lovingly Subversive Homage To The Murder Mystery
The game is afoot! Following the hotly divisive Star Wars: The Last Jedi, writer/director Rian Johnson sets his subversive sights on the murder mystery. Paying tribute to the likes of Agatha Christie, Johnson crafts a star-studded whodunit that stays true to the genre’s mainstays whilst also going its own way. Satisfying and crowd-pleasing, Knives Out is an enjoyable ride full of twists and turns that’s fun for the whole family.
When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.
The murder mystery whodunit is a genre straight out of the past, and it’s one that isn’t often utilized in modern cinema. Aside from 2017’s mediocre Murder on the Orient Express (which was yet another Agatha Christie adaptation), the genre hasn’t gotten much love. More often than not, whenever a whodunit makes its way to our screen, it’s generally an adaptation of some kind, finding roots in novels (mostly from author Agatha Christie), plays (like Sleuth — one of Johnson’s favorite films — or Death Trap), spoof/parody (Murder by Death and Scream), and even board games (Clue). It’s a bit hard to believe, but it’s been since Robert Altman’s 2001 film, Gosford Park (or James Mangold’s 2003 film, Identity, if you want to count that), since we’ve had a decent original whodunit, complete with brand new characters and twists, which just makes Johnson’s Knives Out snap, crackle and pop with freshness outright.
A large part of of what makes the film so enjoyable is in how Johnson reinvigorates the murder mystery genre, dusting the cobwebs off something old and making it shine like new again. Here, he takes a fairly familiar setup — a situation involving one location, many characters (all of whom have their own motives), murder, and suspected foul play — and adds some nice subversive elements to catch the audience off guard. On top of the genre conventions and subversion, Johnson adds some social commentary to the mix, which definitely makes the film more timely (which is obviously one of its major goals given how here-and-now the jokes are). However, the downside is that it doesn’t wind up amounting to anything that we haven’t already seen (class divide, rich vs. poor, “the meek shall inherit the earth” kinda message) — which isn’t to say it still isn’t satisfying.
Another of the film’s major draws is its phenomenally assembled ensemble cast, all of whom are given very colorful personalities to inhabit and very smart and witty dialogue to hurl like daggers. There are a lot of characters to keep track of (probably too many), but they are all visually distinct and characteristically well defined; however, several of them, including some of the big names, have the tendency to slide into the periphery where they kind of become forgotten. Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Christopher Plummer, and Ana de Armas stand out of in the forefront in terms of largest roles and most memorable performances. Craig in particular is in top form, and he’s clearly having a blast. His southern accent, while jarring at first, is wonderfully ridiculous, and you can see him really relishing every syllable of the dialogue he’s been handed. His knack from comedic timing is pitch-perfect, and it adds a nice contrast (just as Lucky Logan did) to his Bond persona. Ana de Armas, who many will remember from Blade Runner 2049, is the heart and soul of the film though. She’s never been given a role of this size, and she really proves that she can hold her own.
The mechanics of the film hark back to Johnson’s earlier works, Brick (a rad riff on film noir, which we still think is his best) and The Brother’s Bloom (a decent but overly twisty con artist flick). His love and respect for every genre he touches — whether it be neo-noir, con-man, sci-fi, or whodunit — is generally one of the more palpable aspects of his films, and it’s something that certainly gives Knives Out an added layer of charm. Like many of Johnson’s films, the genius of them lies in the subversive aspects throughout, and the structural curveball he throws in Knives Out’s first act is one of his best nuances since his debut, Brick. Normally, a murder mystery is only about who amongst the characters committed the murder, but Johnson solves that mystery for us pretty quickly, which throws us all for a nice loop. From there, we’re taken on an unexpected ride that replaces the usual mystery with a new one: who hired Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), the private detective who is anonymously called upon to investigate Harlan's murder?
Johnson also adds a very clever and hilarious quirk to the film’s central character, Marta (Ana de Armas), Harlan's nurse and caretaker (and the one of few likeable characters), who has the uncontrollable urge to vomit if she even thinks about telling a lie. This quirk, when coupled with Marta’s situation and its high stakes, helps to further tangle the webs of the film’s new mystery, which, enjoyable and infectious as its unraveling may be, resolves in somewhat of a fizzle, with the typical exposition-heavy monologue from the detective who’s pieced it all together. Johnson finds a way to add some oomph to this familiar genre format though. He adds an unexpected “explosive” element to the climax, along with a pretty funny gag, before settling into one of the more memorable final images we’ve seen this year.
While we definitely enjoyed it, we were never fully engaged with the specifics of the mystery (which we knew was just going to be spoon-fed to us by the end), but Ana de Armas’ earned our empathy, and we were engaged with her character’s journey. We also weren’t in love with the cinematography, which was a bit too dark and obscured some of the lovely set design, but for the most part, we found Knives Out to be a pretty infectious, laugh-out-loud good time. It’s one we’re eager to see again to catch all the subtle, small stuff we might’ve overlooked initially.
Recommendation: Smart, fun, and laugh-out-loud funny, Knives Out should definitely be seen on the big screen with a big audience. Take your parents!
Rating: 4 coin flips outta 5.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!