By Harlly A Lewis
Knives Out, written and directed by Rian Johnson, whose previous work includes Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi and Looper, is a Whodunnit starring a star studded cast including Ana De Armas, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer and many more.
The film starts with the death of widely renowned crime fiction author Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), which is quickly ruled as self-inflicted. However, an anonymous party has hired famous private detective and genius Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to uncover the circumstances of Harlan’s death. Assisted by Harlan’s nurse and friend Marta Cabrera (Ana De Armas), whose inability to lie sheds light on the families many secrets and shames, Blanc soon finds out that things are more than they appear to be as Harlan’s dysfunctional and greedy family shows their ugly side.
The performances in Knives Out are all fantastic, with my favourites being Daniel Craig as Blanc, Ana De Armas as Marta and Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey.
Since Skyfall in 2012 it feels as though Craig has been bored of the role of James Bond, but there is no sign of boredom in his performance as master detective Benoit Blanc in this film. With a near convincing southern drawl, which has been compared to what one could imagine Colonel Sanders sounding like, Blanc provides Craig with a much more erudite and wordy role than his often silent and almost thuggish turn as Bond, and you can see him relishing it.
De Armas was fantastic in this film, playing a character that deviates from a great deal of her previous action-oriented roles. De Armas really sells the honest and trustworthy character of Marta and plays off the energy of all the other performers very well.
Plummer is fantastic in the scenes he is in as on old man, aware that he is near the end of his life as he attempts to set things right for the betterment of all those around him.
Chris Evans is also fantastic as black sheep of the family and general layabout Ransom Drysdale. The film takes advantage of Evans prior stint as Captain America in MCU by utilising Evans natural charm to both distance himself from the rest of the family as well as endearing you to his character.
The cinematography and pacing are top notch as it avoids the pitfall of many stories set around a mystery, where they can be predictable as well as insulting to one’s intelligence. Johnson’s whip smart and often hilarious script treats you as another detective along for the ride and rewards the audience members who are experienced armchair sleuths who are used to solving mysteries alongside cinematic detectives such as Poirot, Holmes and countless others.
I personally cannot wait for Johnson take his knives out again and present another slice out of the career of Blanc and experience some more of his clever, biting and donut shaped mysteries.
On The Brightside 