Review: Knives Out (2019)

Rian Johnson's name has become, er, contentious in some circles. He made a certain thing that some people still...debate. But, for the purposes of this, I'm going to shove it all to one side--after all, I did think his film prior, Looper, was pretty decent, time travelling Bruce Willis and all. So, leave your memes about expectations and subversions thereof by the door, and let's talk about Knives Out.

The setup is familiar enough--a wealthy writer (Christopher Plummer) is found dead one morning after a slightly tumultuous dinner party with his upper-class family. The police, including private eye Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, having the time of his life) come in to investigate, interviewing each member of this slightly snooty collection of potential backstabbers, including the awesome Jamie Lee Curtis and Captain America himself Chris Evans--although he's no selfless superhero here. The one caught in the middle is Plummer's personal nurse, the young Hispanic Marta (Ana de Armas), who finds things getting very complicated for her indeed.

If you've seen a few whodunnits, this isn't a film that's going to revolutionize the genre--let's just say you might get a few Columbo vibes about halfway through. But the direction and the acting is, well, pretty damn exuberant--Craig is definitely having way more fun than he did in Spectre, putting awn a reaaaally over the taaaahp but oh so faaahn Louisiana draaaaawl. Evans also seems to really relish not having to be a pure-heated Marvel champion and delights in being the smarmiest of the pack, although of course there's twists along the way for him to play with. Most of the cast does a fine job-and that's what ultimately sells this for me.

The film has a...much stronger political undertone (or, nearer the end, overtone) than I was expecting. You have namedrops of certain political buzzwords, and eavesdropping on some characters debating current politics--and by the end of it, the message starts to feel very clear. Some might not take to it, but for me personally, I'm not against such things provided it goes somewhere and makes a point over just being there for the sake of it. And yeah, fortunately it is woven into the characters and plot, so I'll take it.

And, of course, there is a twist. One part might stretch, but let's just say I think it fits considering what happened. And ultimately, the film doesn't take itself completely seriously, all too happy to poke fun and rip into the smarmy subjects within. There are little details that it ends up not drawing attention to that really help set the tone and some finer things about the people involved that do end up coming to play later.

So, yeah, I definitely enjoyed this Johnson picture rather consistently. It's not going to be a landmark game-changer, but it takes the whodunnit setup and has some self-aware fun with it. If nothing else, see it for Craig finally being allowed to overact a bit (well, a damn well more than a bit, but whatever). Polish your blade and get stuck in.