The Sunday Mail
“Knives Out”, Rian Johnson’s cinematic masterpiece, is as close to “perfection” as any movie is ever going to get.
Before someone grabs their favourite energy drink and log on to their Twitter or Facebook account for some social media bashing and trolling, let me explain what I mean by “perfection” and “cinematic masterpiece”.
This is not the best movie ever made, nor is it an instant classic.
The famed American filmmaker simply managed to tick all the boxes required for the genre. Inasfar as murder mysteries go, this is a perfect plot.
The murder mystery, or “Whodunit” for all the film buffs out there, is a largely underrated genre, one of the most difficult to master.
For the last good murder mystery movie, one has to go back to 2017. Of which “Murder on the Orient Express” was a remake of a 1934 classic.
That speaks volumes on the lack of good movies in this genre. While the past decades have been littered with a few murder mystery films, most ranged from plausible to decent cinema.
But in “Knives Out”, Johnson has created a well-rounded film with enough twists and turns to keep the audience guessing. Not a beat, dialogue or character was wasted as each character serves a purpose in moving the film and plot forward.
The fact that he also manages to handle a very big ensemble that includes legends Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans and a few upcoming actors shows the artistry that went into this film.
Wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Plummer) invites his family to his mansion for his 85th birthday party. The following morning, he is found dead in what is initially believed to be suicide.
An anonymous party hires famed detective Benoit Blanc to investigate the case. Upon his initial interviews with the family, cracks begin to emerge within Thrombey’s supposed suicide.
Every family member seems to have had a motive and an opportunity to kill the novelist.After all, he was very wealthy.
The key to the case lies with the dead novelist’s former nurse and confidante, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Ammas), who on top of having looked after the world’s most innocent and kind-hearted person, happens to have a condition that prevents her from lying. She vomits every time she lies.
She also happens to have dirt on every family member.I thought this was a very nice touch.
With Cabrera aiding his investigations, Blanc has a couple of days to poke holes in the suicide theory and then find out who actually committed the crime.
I only have one criticism for the film. While it might come across as a nitpick, Craig’s overblown and fake Southern accent might put off some people. Craig really goes to town on the said accent. However, he does so brilliantly.
The performances are by far the film’s strength.
ln addition, most of the characters are really well-rounded.
Plummer’s demeanour ensures that he commands every scene he features in.Craig, the genius detective, steals every scene too; while Jamie Lee Curtis (Linda Drysdale) is, well, Jamie Lee Curtis.
But the Most Valuable Player award goes to Chris Evans’ take as Ransom Drysdale, Trombey’s grandson and the black sheep of the family.Ransom has a sense of self-entitlement, is spoiled and an all-round dirtbag. Evans does a great job in bringing that to life.
Despite witnessing the crime occur through flashbacks, the film is full of many twists that keep the audience guessing. Each family member is keeping secrets and lying, which makes everyone look guilty.
Although the audience actually witness as the crime occur, no one is confirmed as the murderer.
The final act, or big reveal, is the show stealer. It encompasses a mixture of action, great dialogue, performances and a bit of comedy.
The film, released in September last year, has done well on the box-office, grossing over US$248 million worldwide. lt has done so well such that a sequel is already in the works.
lt is said Craig has already signed on and will play detective Blanc again.Who knows, we might actually have a new franchise on our hands.
