Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Director: Rian Johnson
Quick Impressions:
We’ve been excited for Knives Out for months and months, but honestly, for me that excitement was based more on its potential–that cast! those sets! Rian Johnson!–than anything I saw in the trailer.
We’re a family of Clue fanatics. Of course, we play the board game often, but that pales in comparison to our viewing of the 1985 comedy. As a child, I begged to rent that movie every time we went to the video store (or the grocery store or anywhere that rented movies). Finally, my grandpa just bought me the VHS. It was a sensible purchase. I’ve since upgraded to a Blu-ray, and our whole family loves it, and we watch it constantly. Basically, any time we sit down without a plan firmly in place, we end up watching Clue. Supposedly there’s a remake in the works, but it is taking forever. We heard it was being developed for Ryan Reynolds. Then like a year later, we heard Jason Bateman is directing, and then….???????
At this point I’ll believe there’s a new Clue when I see it, but Knives Out seemed like a movie with a similar vibe. This Thanksgiving holiday, my husband and I were beyond excited to take our older son and daughter. (Our four-year-old was much less excited to stay home with Grandma and Grandpa. In fact, he was furious and remained so for two hours. But, I mean, he was only able to tolerate Frozen II because it featured a cute salamander. Sitting through movies is not his thing, and this one would have been extra challenging since the theater mysteriously started it late and kept the volume unusually low. I am surprised that no one complained about the sound. That did keep the audience on the edge of our seats. It’s a dialogue-heavy movie.)
So does Knives Out live up to the hype? That depends on what hype you’ve been listening to. Ever since The Last Jedi, knives have been out for Rian Johnson like he’s Julius Caesar strolling into the Forum on the Ides of March. If you’ve been listening to bitter Star Wars fans whose childhood Johnson allegedly ruined, then Johnson’s latest effort will probably wildly exceed your expectations. But if you yourself are one of those excessively vocal, bitter fans who hated The Last Jedi, then you’re in for a treat. You’re probably going to hate this, too, and for all the same reasons. “Superior” female characters, lack of subtlety, over-the-top humor, heavy-handed “liberal” moralizing, a scene where Christopher Plummer flies unconscious through space like Mary Poppins. That last one might not be in the movie (I won’t spoil it for you by saying for sure), but Knives Out is definitely Johnson’s film and bears all the usual hallmarks of his work. I personally liked The Last Jedi (and Looper). Brick was never my favorite because the hook (all those teens of today talking like 1940s film noir characters!) is both the best and worst part (because why are they doing that?) Knives Out has a similarly contrived quality. Daniel Craig is clearly playing the lovechild of Hercule Poirot and Foghorn Leghorn (and loving it). But that is quite similar to the style of comedy used in Clue. So the movie mostly worked for me (though it is a bit on the long side, like most of Johnson’s movies).
Now if, on the other hand, you’ve been hearing more positive hype about Knives Out–all-star cast, lots of laughs, tons of fun, twisty mystery!–that’s all true. Take any excessive superlatives you hear with a grain of salt, of course, but this movie is beautifully cast, well made, and lots of fun. The last twist pales in comparison to the first, but Knives Out does give us a coherent mystery with a real answer at the end and engaging performances by a game cast throughout.
The Good:
Probably the best thing about Knives Out is that it’s not just like a popular detective movie–it’s like a bunch of different popular detective movies all mashed together. Some characters are going through the motions of Clue, some are waiting for Poirot, some are living an episode of Columbo, some are watching Murder She Wrote in Spanish. There’s a lot going on.
The all-star cast performs as expected. They could be given more material, but they’re certainly all extremely game and funny. Jamie Lee Curtis and Toni Collette are particular standouts. (If only their roles were enlarged just a little bit!!!).
Christopher Plummer is so marvelously entertaining that I wanted to give him ten Oscars just for being awesome. One of his scenes is among my favorite of the year. (This year, I really will put together a write-up of my ten favorite scenes. I almost did that last year but worried it seemed excessive. Now I think, “Who cares? This is my blog! I’ll write hundreds of barely read end-of-the-year compilations if I want!”)
Ana de Armas, so charming as Joi in Blade Runner 2049 is thoroughly captivating in her relatively large role here. I see that in the near future, she’ll be playing both a Bond girl and Marilyn Monroe. Sounds promising. If anyone gets singled out for some awards love, surely it will be de Armas (though most likely for a Golden Globe).
And Daniel Craig is something else. I have no words for his performance. I have never seen him give a performance like this. (If you’ve seen the trailer, you get the gist.) I’m not saying the performance is brilliant or anything, but since he’s not thought of as a comedic actor, this kooky turn (that might easily draw ridicule if given by another actor ) honestly seems like a good choice for him. Benoit Blanc is cartoonish, but he’s enough of a character that I think he could successfully return in another kooky mystery in a couple of years. (We know very little about him, but that mythology could always be expanded on in the future.) It’s a weird performance, but no weirder, really, than Tim Curry’s antic explanation of the murders at the end of Clue. I’m not sure I liked the performance, but I definitely do remember it. (I keep thinking of Lauren Bacall saying, “a character straight out of character-ville.” Too bad that’s a line from How to Marry a Millionaire and not a film noir).
The visuals in this movie are like another talented member of the all-star ensemble. The colors are bright and bold, the sets, intricate and eye-catching. They remind me of sets and props you covet when you’re putting on a high school play but can’t afford what some rich districts have. The Thrombey house is full of layers of mystery. It’s exciting just to look at. I’ll bet tourists would pay for the opportunity to meander through it (both within the world of the film and in real life). I commend Steve Yedlin’s cinematography, but also the set design, the props, the costumes, just every visual component of the movie. I can’t really comment on the score, unfortunately, because the sound at our showing was bizarrely low, so I was unusually focused on listening to the words.
Knives Out is clever and often funny in inventive ways. (Its take on faulty memory and unreliable narrators is a scream.) The mystery makes sense, and, to my surprise, I cared far more about the characters than I expected to, one in particular. I expected this to be an entirely cerebral film, but to my surprise, it has astonishing heart even if sometimes its message is not delivered with great subtlety (or, basically any subtlety whatsoever). It’s entertaining and only a bit too long. And some of its unexpected topical themes make it extremely Oscar-baity. (Too bad none of the supporting characters is given really meaty material.)
Best Scene:
One scene stands decisively above all the others. I’m thinking very carefully about how best to describe it while avoiding spoilers. Should I mention the actors in the scene, or should I instead comment on how the scene functions in the movie? Spoiler free, I cannot do both.
Let me say this, the scene is fascinating because we think we’ve been watching one type of mystery all along, and then suddenly we’re given material more in the style of an entirely different fictional detective than we expected going in. (Imagine that you’re expecting Miss Marple, but instead you get Sherlock Holmes. If you’re at all a fan of famous TV detective shows, when you see the movie, you will know exactly what I mean.)
This scene changes everything. For one thing, we’re suddenly given a truly sympathetic character (arguably even two). Up till now, the movie has been funny and mysterious, but not particularly emotional or urgent. But this changes things. It suddenly becomes a very different type of story.
We suddenly learn quite a bit of crucial information, but ironically, one thing this discovery does is make us suspicious that there’s more we don’t know, maybe even more that specific characters themselves don’t know.
So now all bets are off and the film becomes truly mysterious and exhilarating as we try to puzzle out just what kind of film exactly this movie is attempting to be.
I decided describing the scene this way is best. If I mention the actors involved instead, I might give something away.
Best Action Sequence:
Best Scene Visually:
Most Oscar Worthy Moment, Ana de Armas:
Ana de Armas probably won’t get nominated for an Oscar for her engaging turn here, but to me she feels like the only one who possibly could be. The trouble is, you’d have to disingenuously argue that as a member of an ensemble, she’s Best Supporting Actress, but if she gets nominated anywhere, it will be by the Golden Globes in lead.
Most Oscar Worthy Moment, Christopher Plummer:
In a weaker year, I think Plummer would have a shot here just because he’s a veteran actor who is a clear standout with a particularly engaging scene early in the movie. Since he was just nominated for his last-minute, whirlwind replacement of Kevin Spacey and because every working actor on the planet seems to be launching a serious Oscar campaign in 2019, there is no way this will happen. But setting aside those harsh realities, I must say that Plummer is pretty magnificent in this movie.
My daughter leaned over to me and whispered, “I like this guy.” I like him, too. He’s so humorously sinister in his conversations with his horrible family, but we do get to see a different side of him eventually.
The Negatives:
Knives Out is a really good film, but a part of me was hoping I would like it as much as Clue. I don’t know where I got this delusional pipe dream. The amusing first act has the taut, controlled re-watchability of Clue, and the middle is exhilarating, but the last act is overlong if you’re looking for something to watch again and again and again.
For me, the big problem is that the best part comes far too early in the movie. The first twist surprised me so much. It knocked my socks off and took my breath away and beat me up and took my lunch money and rocked my world and left me devoid of further cliches. Previously, I had been thinking, “Yeah, this movie looks fun enough, but I can’t see how it can be all that good!” Then suddenly, I realized, “Okay! Never mind!” The first twist was completely not what I was expecting–I didn’t even know to expect a twist–and it just blew me away.
So then the ending disappointed me because deep inside the naive child’s heart in me, I hoped Rian Johnson could shock me again, the way he had that first time. But I think the ending is too easy to guess. I mean, you may not have all the mechanics of it down, but if you’re like my family and me, you’ve had your finger pointing in the right direction for quite a while. (In fairness, though, I considered two other possible-but-unused endings equally “obvious.”)
My only other complaint is that as an awards season fanatic, I wish the all-star cast were given just a bit more material. They are all fantastic, but with just a little more screen time (or even just better lines), Toni Collette or Jamie Lee Curtis might have a shot at a Best Supporting Actress nomination. They’re both extremely funny, but neither role is substantial enough to merit recognition (in the form of some award). That’s just such a shame (if like me you obsess over awards).