Knives Out

The murder mystery genre isn't something I jump into that often but it can be pretty fun when in the right hands. The formula usually involves a crime occurring, a detective having interviews with possible suspects, a series of events narrows down that list, and with the help of innocent individual learns about the perpetrator along with their motive. This has been around in cinemas for ages but doesn't have a lot of heat in the recent decade. This brings us to Knives Out, a new project within this field that was written and directed by Rian Johnson with an all-star cast. I have my issues with Johnson, not due to his work on Star Wars The Last Jedi, but due to his temper in handling fan criticism on it. However, after watching Jojo Rabbit, I've come to terms that franchise films like Thor Ragnarok don't exactly handle filmmakers strengths the best since they have to follow studio rules in places. I haven't watched any of Johnson's non-franchise work before entering the auditorium ready to put my bias against him to the side in order to judge it on its and I ended up leaving it satisfied by enough of what Rian was capable of pulling off here.

What's it about? The story follows an eccentric detective attempting to solve a murder of a rich family crime novelist patriarch. A benefit to this story is how it plays around with the narrative. It mostly flows well with the twists in its intrigue and has fun with the cheesy tale. What helps with the experience is the set design of the large house where most of the events take place. The scenario and the events that follow aren't anything groundbreaking but are enough for an entertaining romp.

There are some faults in the writing holding it back from being better executed. The most observant of viewers can notice details that can give away the mystery early on (including myself). Some of the forced gags such as conversations around pop culture shows ("my friend told me about that on a show" or "I saw that on...") feels out of place. And the politic nature of the family injected a 1-2 minute discussion surrounding something too close to home in our climate (at the time of this review).

How are the actors? The main actors to focus on in this story are Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas. Daniel is having a lot of fun in this role with an over-the-top southern accent and quirky lines of dialogue that he pulls off well. There's a part where he goes on about talking about donut holes that has stuck with me whenever I look at them (I can't tell if Rian Johnson was getting hungry while writing the script or if the actor was getting driven crazy but it's probably the former). Despite her character not having that much of a personality and being more of a plot device type, Ana is a solid highlight for a protagonist to observe in reacting to these events. Honorable mention go to Toni Collette for being a delight among the family member actors. A dishonorable mention goes to the casting choice of a character that's way too obvious for the role they were going for and being more distinguishable from the rest of the cast for their own popularity.

Overall Consensus: Knives Out is a fun mystery adventure with solid camera work, great lead performances, and nice set design but is held back by some of the writing faults. ⭑⭑⭑3/4💻 Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes R

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors. You enjoy cheesy murder stories with cliched archetypes. You like Rian Johnsons writing in non-franchise studio work.

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors. You don't enjoy cheesy murder stories with cliched archetypes. You dislike Rian Johnsons writing in non-franchise studio work