A successful author of mystery books is found dead in his attic study in mysterious circumstances with his throat slit right after his 85th birthday celebrations, leaving behind a big fat bank balance and estate and his quibbling family. Knives Out movie review…
It looks like a suicide but someone does not seem to think so and mysteriously hires an eccentric ace detective to solve the death puzzle, the inquisition that follows a la Agatha Christie style points at every member of the family as suspect as each could have a motive and are lying through their rich pompous noses.
There’s the younger son who it seems has been fired by the old man and is unable to cope with it , the daughter’s husband is playing Rasputin behind her back and the elder son’s widow is skimming on the old man’s generosity all in all everyone of them had had a run in with the old man just before celebrations.
Each one of them has their reasons to be cross with him though they do try to portray a happy family picture, then there is the old man’s pretty South American nurse who cannot digest lies and behaves very strangely at times which catches the eye of the detective Benoit Blanc, Daniel Craig’s character with an elaborate drawl and puffed cheeks, looks as if he is trying hard to shake off his Bond image though his handsomeness fails him.
Knives Out is a story which is tightly framed within the confines of the scenic locale of the death perceived murder and a few outdoor shots.
Though the cat is out of the bag before the interval if you have the intellect. The detective is also shown doing his investigation in a bumbling manner as if giving full chance to the perpetrator to escape and basing his deductions more on the conversations during inquisition and background checks rather than the usual crime scene physicalities .
But… but… but all things have to come out in a way so that all’s well and that ends well in the end. Is it a murder, is it suicide or is it a true tribute to our beloved old dame Agatha, the jury or shall we say the knives are still out.
– reviewed by PAWAN GUPTA
Cast of Knives Out:
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, a private detective investigating Harlan’s murder
Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey, a wealthy mystery novelist
Chris Evans as Harlan’s grandson
Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera, Harlan’s nurse
Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda Drysdale, Harlan’s eldest daughter
Michael Shannon as Walter Thrombey, Harlan’s youngest son
Don Johnson as Richard Drysdale, Harlan’s son-in-law
Toni Collette as Joni Thrombey, widow of Harlan’s deceased son Neil
Katherine Langford as Megan Thrombey, Harlan’s granddaughter
Jaeden Martell as Jacob Thrombey, Harlan’s grandson
Credits of Knives Out:
Production companies – Media Rights Capital, T-Street
Directed by Rian Johnson
Produced by Ram Bergman and Rian Johnson
Written by Rian Johnson
Music by Nathan Johnson[1]
Cinematography – Steve Yedlin
Edited by Bob Ducsay
