Myself, my wife Andrea, our daughter Randie and our dog Rosie gathered on the couch to watch "Knives Out", a darkly comic murder mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson.
Wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is dead.
The day after his family has gathered at his mansion in Massachusetts to celebrate his 85th birthday party, Harlan's housekeeper Fran finds the gentleman dead, his throat slit.
The police think it's a suicide.
Private eye Benoit Blanc, his services and his Louisiana drawl procured by an anonymous person, suspects there's more to this story.
The extended Thrombey family is, to put it bluntly, fucked up.
If the case is murder, Blanc has a plethora of suspects with motives to kill the old man.
Harlan threatened to expose is son-in-law Richard for cheating on his wife, Harlan's daughter Linda.
Harlan cut off his daughter-in-law Joni's allowance for stealing from him.
Harlan fired his son Walt from his publishing company.
An altercation between Harlan and his grandson Ransom caused Ransom to storm out of the house from the party early on the night of the party.
The one person that Blanc appears to trust is Harlan's nurse Marta Cabrera. Marta cannot tell a lie without vomiting. When Marta gets through her interview with the private eye without throwing up, it seems like she is telling the truth.
But while Marta's answers are technically truthful, they are also incomplete. What drives the rest of the story addresses how Marta is complicit in Harlan Thrombey's death, what she does and does not know and what she is guilty and not guilty of.
Also we have to ponder what exactly does private eye Benoit Blanc understand about this strange and morbid mystery. Is he preternaturally gifted with a unique ability to see clues that others can't see and pierce the veil of secrets that others cannot see beyond? Or is his obfuscating queries just stirring up a tempest of acrimony with no clear strategy?
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc plays his cards close to his chest. Much like Peter Falk as Columbo, neither the audience nor the other characters are quite sure what Blanc does or does not know. Is Blanc throwing around theories in a vain effort to see what sticks with no better idea of what's going on that the Trombley family or the police? Or is he always 1 or 2 steps ahead of everyone?
I think the strange alchemy of Blanc's character is he's a little bit of both. Blanc is a fascinatingly opaque character and we will apparently get to see more of him; a sequel with Daniel Craig reprising his role as Blanc is in development.
Writer/director Rian Johnson is the same guy who brought us Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Like a lot of other people, I took issue with the film which you can read about here. The film suffered from ill conceived plot points and poorly considered character development.
Knives Out is not The Last Jedi. The plot of this movie is as tight as drum and each character is fully fleshed out in service to that plot. Knives Out has a strong and very well written story and script.
And Johnson has a powerful line up of actors bringing that script to life.
Because it is a murder mystery, someone has to die. And the circumstances of that death unfold to reveal a great and senseless tragedy. But beyond that sad but vital element, Knives Out is a lot of fun to watch as the mystery of Harlan Thrombey's death and the web of secrets of his dysfunctional family unfold.
Knives Out is available of Amazon Prime.
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