KNIVES OUT (2019)

KNIVES OUT  (2019)

Tagline - “Nothing brings a family together like murder”

Lately, at our house, it’s been a tradition to go watch a bunch of movies on Christmas Day. This year was no exception and KNIVES OUT was the first on the list. This one starts out with the family patriarch and basically the entire “talent pool” of his whole family, dying in his study one night after his 85^th birthday party. Foul play is definitely expected or we wouldn’t have a murder mystery on our hands.

It seems like this one was trying to rival the cast of the most recent version of “Murder On The Orient Express”. Loaded with stars, these performances are able to drive the plot forward with just enough momentum to keep this from ever getting boring. The story and backgrounds are both rich and complex yet right in front of your face. I didn’t expect to like this movie near as much as I did, and I did expect to like it.

It’s nice to see actors like Chris Evans taking parts outside of the comic book movie genre (not that Snowpiercer wasn’t brilliant in it’s own right). His role as Ransom is a nice break the mold role for him. Jamie Lee Curtis is also great in this. Michael Shannon is pretty perfect at playing a jerk and this one is no exception. Other stand out performances came from Hollywood veteran Don Johnson as Richard Drysdale and Ana De Armas  (BLADE RUNNER 2049) as Marta Cabrera.

I think the weak point of this one was the atmosphere in the film. For a murder mystery I felt like there were too many daylight sequences and not enough “dark and stormy” moments. Having said that, the plot twists and turns are deeply satisfying and well thought out. Daniel Craig’s, Colonel Sanders like drawl is pretty great coming from an actor who is normally running from bad guys or killing them as 007. The pacing is well done and even the scale feels appropriate for what the film was trying to accomplish. In other words, this isn’t just a “CLUE”remake.

Overall I really enjoyed this thing and it’s one movie where I agree with critics from larger platforms. Don’t get used to it.

  
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