It is likely unsurprising that Knives Out, the new mystery from Rian Johnson, is more than meets the eye. Any whodunnit worth its salt has a few twists and turns up its sleeve en route to a killer unmasking, but what is most notable about Knives Out (in the short run at least) is that the film is not actually a whodunnit at all.
Despite what the marketing would have you believe, this is not a contemporary American Murder on the Orient Express or Clue with bigger stars. Yes, it is chock full of A-listers, including Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis, Toni Collette, Chris Evans, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon and Christopher Plummer, but audiences going in expecting to see a locked room mystery with a list of celebrity suspects would do well to adjust their expectations.
Knives Out is, in fact, more Columbo than Murder, She Wrote (despite the latter making a brief TV appearance). The film opens with the death of famous – and fabulously wealthy – murder mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Plummer), who has apparently slit his throat on the night of his birthday party. A week later his family, plus trusted nurse Marta (Ana de Armas), are called back to the house to answer the police’s questions. Also present? A mystery man who sits in the back of the room and taps on a piano key whenever he wants a specific question posed.
That man is famed private investigator Benoit Blanc (Craig). Decked out in a tweed suit and adopting a Southern accent that earns him the insult “Colonel Sanders, Foghorn Leghorn motherf*cker” later in the film, Blanc is observant and surprisingly philosophical when he needs to be. Blanc immediately deduces that the family is a viper’s nest of backstabbing relatives and petty rivalries, especially now that Harlan’s fortune is on the line. After acknowledging Marta’s outsider status among the family (despite their proclamations that she is “one of the family”) and discovering that the nurse has a literal physical aversion to lying, Blanc appoints her as his Watson and presses her into service helping him investigate the possibility of foul play.
The reality of Harlan’s death is not, however, the principal interest of Knives Out. In fact, the truth of his death (and the party involved) is identified near the end of the first act. The rest of the film documents the individual’s attempts to stay one step ahead of Blanc, with the mystery of who hired him – the “donut hole” (a supposedly open and shut case with a gaping hole in the middle) – lingering in the background. Of course, this is a still a mystery film with game-obsessed characters and a house replete with trap windows, so of course, there is still a convoluted explanation to be revealed at the climax.
For the most part, however, Knives Out is a very savvy adult comedy. While the film doesn’t feature nearly enough of its stacked cast, when the stars are allowed to come out and play, there is plenty of fun – and laughs – to be had. Johnson, who both writes and directs, clearly relishes the opportunity to craft a rogue’s gallery of despicable rich characters and each character has a clear, defining trademark that enables the actors to sink their teeth into their roles and make the characters pop.
With such a large cast it would be difficult to do everyone justice no matter the narrative structure, but the reality is that most of the actors appear in what amount to extended cameos. Thankfully everyone makes the most of their limited screen time. The standouts are Curtis as Linda, Harlan’s stern and intelligent eldest child who doesn’t suffer fools, slackers or BS. Another MVP is Collette’s Joni, the widowed step-sister to Linda and Walt (Michael Shannon), who has a Gwyneth Paltrow lifestyle brand called Phlam and a drawn-out Valley Girl speech pattern that immediately renders her a gay icon. Finally, there’s Chris Evans as Ransom, Linda and Richard (Don Johnson)’s entitled son who arrives mid-way through the film and immediately stirs the pot with quips, side-eye and insults.
If one adult gets short shrift, it is arguably Shannon (devoted fans might find his role a touch bland compared to the others). Younger cast members Jaeden Martell (of IT fame) and Katharine Langford (13 Reasons Why) as Jacob, Walt’s alt-right Nazi masturbating son, and Meg, Joni’s SJW College student daughter, respectively, are both underutilized. Still, they have more to do than Rikki Lindhome as Walt’s wife, Donna, or K Callan as Great Nana Thrombrey; the pair barely share a line of dialogue between them, despite appearing in nearly all of the family scenes.
The reduced screen time for the majority of the cast is because the film actually belongs to Marta, who spends the bulk of the film tagging along with Blanc. Marta is the film’s emotional center and director Johnson dedicates ample screen time via flashback to her relationship with Harlan. Marta is very obviously a kind, friendly counterpoint to the lonely old man’s horrible, money-lusting family. In this capacity, de Armas is solid as the “straight man” among the film’s hissably delectable family members, but spending so much time with Marta when the time could be spent with the film’s larger than life personalities is admittedly frustrating.
While (Rian) Johnson has an ear for witty, inappropriate and even profane humor, it should be noted that Knives Out is also pretty political in its critique of the rich and the value of immigration. This is a film that only features two POC, but one of them is the lead and the hero (sadly poor LaKeith Stanfield is window dressing). The Thrombeys value Marta so long as she doesn’t pose a threat to their inheritance, but not enough to know which country her family emigrated from. The fact that Marta’s mother is an illegal immigrant is also a major plot point, and a heated argument between Richard and Joni about how undocumented migrants are a plight on true “Americans” is ironically juxtaposed throughout the film with repeated refrains about how few family members have had to work for their living (or they got their start thanks to a hand out). The incredibly well-crafted script will undoubtedly be one of the film’s main selling features and there is no lack of jokes at the hypocrisy of the entitled rich assholes of the Thrombey family.
At its heart Knives Out is a comedy first, a mystery second and a sly political commentary about the 1% a distant third. Thanks to an impeccable script, game actors and plenty of laughs, though, the messaging goes down easy. This one is a crowd-pleaser.
This TIFF review was originally published on September 7, 2019.
