"Knives Out" review

Glad Star Wars fans ain't stopping him from doing what he does best.

Building a name for himself as a tinkerer and subverter of story structure and expectations ingrained within viewers nurtured by a lifetime of adherence to said structure, I can't think of a storytelling genre that director Rian Johnson would be more perfectly suited to than a murder mystery.

As is the case with "Knives Out," his fifth directorial feature and quite possibly his best piece of work yet, the film follows the death of prestigious mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), initially viewed to be an open and shut case of suicide until independent investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) pokes his head into the case on behalf of an anonymous client, suspecting foul play almost too outlandish to be believed.

Despite its very contemporary setting, "Knives Out" is a very detailed throwback to a style of whodunit mysteries that don't make it to cinemas as often as they once did. From Thrombey's home decor to the stylish and semi formal wear of his family, all designed to evoke a very late Victorian to mid Edwardian era aesthetic, the movie oozes a sense of style that makes it feel like the best adaptation of "Clue" never filmed, something even joked about within the movie.

The dedication to attention to detail is so sharp that if you were to tell me this was an installment of a long running mystery books series called the Benoit Blanc Books ala Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels or the contemporary crime thrillers that populate mystery sections in bookstores today, I'd almost be inclined to believe you in a heartbeat.

Its sense of style ultimately proves at first glance to be an excuse to let the actors cut loose to show sides of themselves their careers often haven't and not in the smug, full of themselves. "Ocean's 11," "getting paid to have a glorified party kind of way."

Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, and Jamie Lee Curtis fill out the cast of the family and embody those roles with a level of disturbing accuracy that will give anybody that's had to tolerate painful Thanksgivings PTSD induced flashbacks, complete with political commentary from the holier than thou backward conservative fossils and well meaning but condescending white-knight championing from privileged liberal "activists."

The show stealers however are Craig, Chris Evans, and Ana de Armas. Armas serves as both Thrombey's caretaker and confidant, as well as one of the prime suspects whose relationship to the truth positions her as a foil to Craig's bumbling but brilliant if socially awkward Blanc. The two serve excellently as the moral heart of a film steeped in analyzing a pack of complex yet selfish vultures and their cynical motivations.

Evans, meanwhile, is having the time of his life. Freed from the leading man status he's had to carry ever since hitting it big as Captain America, the man puts his charisma on full display, crossing lines, and chewing every scene he enters like a smug agent of anarchy so well you'd think he was auditioning for Loki, the god of mischief.

As fun as the performances are, it's the second half where things really kick into gear, as the mystery falls to the wayside for the film to become more of a drama that twists the dynamic of the moralities of all the guilty and innocent parties until culminating in a reveal that isn't quite mind blowing but so damn admirably well executed by mystery movie standards I wanted to applaud it all 10 minutes before the credits actually started rolling.

The real kicker however, comes in the form of its heartfelt ending, in which all of the subversion comes together to deliver a message about the virtue of being a decent person in spite of the potential influence of financial corruption and its very real and understandable allure.

"Knives Out" has its heart and head in all the right places but strip it of its deeper meaning and you still have a fun, sharply written and witty mystery comedy carried out by a brilliant cast and assembled by a true visionary of a storyteller that can make 2 hours pass like no time whatsoever.

9 Ulterior Motives out of 10