Knives Out

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Knives Out follows oddball private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he’s summoned to a remote estate and asked to look into the mysterious death of a combative family’s patriarch (Christopher Plummer’s Harlan Thrombey). Filmmaker Johnson delivers a blisteringly-paced opening stretch that effective establishes the picture’s multitude of oddball, quirky figures, with the effectiveness of this stretch certainly heightened by the efforts of an almost incomprehensibly talented cast that includes, among others, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, and Don Johnson. (It remains clear, though, that this is Craig’s show through and through, as the actor delivers an unabashedly broad performance that stands as his most appealing onscreen work in ages.) It’s fairly disappointing to note, then, that Knives Out‘s grip on the viewer loosens considerably as it progresses into its decidedly erratic midsection, as Johnson’s single-minded focus on the mystery, coupled with a somewhat stagy atmosphere, paves the way for a second act that’s hardly as tight or captivating as one might’ve hoped. (The ongoing emphasis on impossible-to-predict twists and a smattering of electrifying sequences effectively juice the proceedings on a sporadic basis, admittedly.) The whole thing builds to a third act that’s as surprising as it is engrossing, which ultimately does confirm Knives Out‘s place as a mostly watchable whodunnit that certainly could’ve benefited from some judicious tightening (ie the 130 minute runtime is undoubtedly rather ludicrous).

*** out of ****