Review: Rian Johnson's "Knives Out"

If Rian Johnson's intention was to make a movie for the middle aged to elderly white female demographic, then boy howdy did he succeed. Sadly, I'm not in that prized demographic, so my response to the film was not the same as theirs. What I expected and what I got were definitely not the same thing.

Perhaps I can place the blame for my misperception on whoever put the trailer together. Or perhaps it was my own prejudice regarding mysteries, particularly of the Big Ol' House Full of Obnoxious Eccentrics variety. Clearly I'm not a fan of the genre so this is going to be a grain of salt review if ever there was one.

To be honest, I was expecting a satire. The tone of the trailer certainly gave me that impression, although I've asked around and not everyone felt that way. That leads me to conclude that my own dislike of the mystery genre makes it difficult for me to see these movies as anything except humorous. However, instead of a twenty-first century version of  "Clue" or the absolutely brilliant "Murder by Death," Johnson's film seems to take itself somewhat seriously. Fair enough. There are millions of people who actually live for movies set in spooky old houses where murder most foul has occurred and everybody is a suspect.

But even taking that into account, the mystery behind "Knives Out" is serviceable at best. As he showed us with the much maligned (unfairly, in my opinion) "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," Johnson lives to subvert expectations. He doesn't always succeed any more than M. Knight Shyamalan always pulls off a shocking surprise ending, but nobody can say he doesn't give it his all. Unfortunately, his all in this case results in a bit of a mess that doesn't really accomplish much.

*SPOILER ALERT*




For one thing, the murder that isn't really a murder but a cover-up that isn't really covered up reeks of screenwriter invention. There's nothing organic about it, thus is feels artificial, like a workshopped idea rather than anything even remotely approximating ingeniousness. Also, the characters are so broadly drawn that they should have been played for laughs, but the laughs come few and far between and don't last long. The movie never settles on a tone, but not in the Tarantino way where that works as an effective element to keep the audience off-balance.

The actors are very good. Much like the criminally overrated "Joker," they are the ones carrying a lackluster screenplay. But what "Knives Out" lacks is a charismatic lead. Daniel Craig gives it his best but his drawling private detective wears out his welcome after about an hour.  Ana de Armas is also very good but her impossibly virtuous nurse feels more like an over-compensation than an actual person. Even Chris Evans' supposedly attention-grabbing performance only garners attention because nobody else except Christopher Plummer is very interesting .

"Knives Out" is also way too long. With its superficial conceit and hamfisted atmospheric tone, it should have been over by 100 minutes, not 230. Hell, by the ninety minute mark my attention began wandering and, frankly, that's when the film went from mildly diverting to flirting with abject stupidity. That third act reveal should have never made it past the brainstorming stage. Mysteries in general tend to be hopelessly contrived but whenever they include someone sneaking in after the "murder" and coming up with some grand plan, it becomes beyond ridiculous. None of this would have been a problem is Johnson had made a comedy instead of whatever the hell this movie was.

I guess my disappointment is evident. I was so looking forward to this movie and truly regretted not seeing it in theaters. Thank God I never did, because this review would be far harsher if I'd paid to see it.

I guess what I'm trying nicely to say is this movie is so far up its own ass it could probably vomit itself back onto the screen for further self-indulgence.