Knives Out Reaffirms Rian Johnsons Status As Both A Stylish And Clever Filmmaker

   

    The 2019 fall season brings out it's first serious award contenders with one of the main frontrunners being Knives Out, a modern day reimagining of the classic whodunit mystery thriller style of films, which consist of classics such as Clue, and Murder On The Orient Express. Directed by acclaimed yet controversial filmmaker Rian Johnson, who helmed cult classics such as Brick, Looper, and the heavily divisive Sci-Fi blockbuster Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Johnson writes, produces, and directs this stylish mystery thriller which includes an all-star cast among the likes of Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer. The end result of his modern day experiment on the classic murder mystery proved to be a noteworthy success at the box office, as well as being a relatively strong effort quality wise with the film taking full advantage of its talented ensemble cast, while setting up an effective murder mystery atmosphere, that feels like a modern version of Clue. Knives Out works as a story because of its insistence on paying homage to the classic murder mystery genre, while adding it's own flavor to it. For director Rian Johnson, the film feels like his own personal response to critics of his work on The Last Jedi as well as a personal detox for the skillful filmmaker.

      The plot for Knives Out focuses on a wealthy crime novelist (Played by Christopher Plummer), who gathers his large yet dysfunctional family to his Gothic mansion for his 85th birthday in hopes of having a peaceful evening. The twist that the story brings is the next day, he is found dead, prompting a suave private detective (Daniel Craig) to suspect foul play with him beginning an investigation with all the family members being potential suspects. Knives Out feels like a combination of Clue meets a Wes Anderson film in terms of it's filmmaking style, that mixes dark humor with a serious tone. The film draws strong comparisons to 2017's Murder On The Orient Express, with that film not only boasting a strong ensemble cast, but carried a slick atmosphere that allowed it's talented cast to bring the classic source material to life in a way that gave the film a fun yet suspenseful tone. With Knives Out, Rian Johnson achieves a similar feel to Kenneth Branagh's film with Johnson utilizing his strong ensemble cast, all of whom appear to be having a blast with their snarky characters, while adding old fashioned murder mystery tropes to the story. He succeeds in taking what's essentially a tired old genre, that's become somewhat cliched by today's standards and manages to make to bring a freshness to it, that makes it feel sharp as well as a extremely fun to watch. Knives Out is a smart, well-thought out, and strongly acted film which proudly stands as being not only one of the best movies of the year but also one of the most entertaining.

      One of the key elements that makes Knives Out work is the top notch acting performances from it's main cast with Daniel Craig delivering some of his best acting outside of the James Bond franchise. Craig is awesome as Detective Blanc, giving audiences a kick out of hearing his silly yet convincing Southern accent along with his characters theatrics. He does a brilliant job of bringing a comedic tone to the part along with tweaking his role of playing a clever detective with all the cliches that come with the part, giving it a unique and different approach while blatantly having a blast with playing his character. The audience will most definitely enjoy his performance, as well as find themselves cracking up at a number of his lines due to the way he delivers them. Ana De Armas both shines and impresses as Marta Cabrera, nurse and caretaker to Harlan. Her character is the heart of the film with Armas performance being one of its true standout moments. Chris Evans is effective in his supporting role of playing Harlan's spoiled playboy grandson, with him effectively nailing the role to a T. This is a different role for Evans outside of his Steve Rogers/Captain America persona, but a welcomed one regardless. Jamie Lee Curtis brings class to her role of playing Harlan's snarky yet eldest daughter Linda Drysdale. She effectively utilizes her characters moments to leave an impression with audiences when she's on the screen. Other noteworthy performances are Toni Collette in the role of Joni Thrombey, widow to Harlan's deceased son Neil, Man Of Steel's Michael Shannon as Harlan's youngest son Walt, whose both Donna's husband as well as the CEO of his dad's publishing company, and Don Johnson as Harlan's son-in-law Richard Drysdale, who helps run his wife's company, played by Curtis. As Harlan himself, Christopher Plummer proves to be the perfect casting choice for the films key role with his characters motives being both understandable as well as justifiable. Other noteworthy performances are Lakeith Stanfield as Detective Lieutenant Elliot, acting alongside Craig's character, Katherine Langford as Harlan's granddaughter Meg, also granddaughter to Joni and Neils character, and Jacob Thrombey as Harlan's grandson, who appears to always be on his phone. The acting was always going to play a major part in making the story work, and with Knives Out, Rian Johnson brings together a stellar cast, utilizing each actor and actresses to their full potential. There is not one bad performance in the film as the cast looks as if they're having a blast playing their respective roles.

      In terms of the films directing, Rian Johnson creates both a fun and goofy atmosphere that carries with it the perfect balance of comedy and suspense, largely due to his talented cast giving their all with their performances, thanks to the freedom that Rian gives the actors with breathing life into their characters. One truly feels that Johnson tried to make the best movie possible with the story he had. The films technical aspects are well-thought out and executed with the films art-set decoration and costume design fitting the mood and style of the film. The movies cinematography is precise and effective with the pacing making the film fly by with it's extended 130 minute running time. Johnson does exceptionally well in setting up the first half of the movie as a whodunnit style mystery flick with each member of the family being noted as a potential suspect before the film shifts in a different direction in it's second half, making it a nice departure from the flow of the story while subverting audiences expectations in a positive way. With Knives Out, Johnson crafts a mystery thriller that's richly entertaining and fun to watch, thanks to it's remarkable cast, the films masterful directing from Johnson, and the screenplay also written by Johnson. Knives Out is a film which knows precisely what it wants to be, and does so with confidence as well as a genuine desire to entertain and surprise audiences with how different the film is from a typical whodunnit mystery thriller.

      The films writing by Johnson is both well-written and clever, keeping the audience at the edge of their seat. He manages to keep the story feeling traditional while giving the genre a modern reimagining with updated dialogue, moments of today's political awareness with references to terms such as snowflakes, the alt-right, and a family argument over the current President (Whose name is never mentioned in the story). Given that the film is essentially a classic "whodunnit" story, Johnson wrote this story to be the best possible version of what it can be while honoring the past iconic mystery stories that came before it. One of the films best traits is its specific attention to detail, while further developing the main characters. It relies heavily on comedy to make the story richly entertaining to audiences with it being further elevated by the wonderful acting from the films main cast. While the first half of this film can come across as feeling predictable, the second half switches things up and manages to successfully do so while keeping the audience engaged. The script is full of twist and turns, though audiences can clearly figure out where the story is going if they pay close enough attention to what's happening on screen with the characters and plot. The writing is conducted in a way which the audience may discover what's happening or going to happen, but don't know how things are going to unfold which ultimately keeps them at the edge of their seat. With both his directing and writing skills, Johnson manages to create the perfect blend of humor and suspense to hold the audiences interest while managing to pull the rug from underneath audiences at certain points in the story to remain surprising. He creates characters that the audience can care about, while making them guess who had the strongest motive to take out Harlan.

      Overall Knives Out proves to be not only clever entertainment, but restores fans faith in Rian Johnson as a filmmaker, who might've been displeased with his direction with Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Here he crafts an extremely fun and whacky experience, that shows he can generate solid entertainment when he sets his mind on a specific genre. With Brick, he created a moody noir story set in a High School, with Looper he took the concept of time-travel and brought his own fun and clever spin to it. Whereas Kenneth Branagh is resurrecting the Murder On The Orient Express series along with placing a new spin on it that's both fun and modern, Johnson does the same with taking what's essentially an old school genre, and adding a new flavor to it's style which makes it feel fresh, funny, exciting, entertaining, and relevant with it's modern political commentary. The film also utilizes it's cast to their maximum potential much like Branagh's movie, giving each character and actor their moment to shine while cleverly creating suspicion around their character with constantly making the audience guess who the murderer is. Knives Out is hands down one of the years best films with a killer ensemble cast which doesn't revolve around the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and reaffirms it's directors status as being a filmmaker with a firm grip on his craft. For those who loved his previous work on films such as Brick, and Looper but found themselves being profoundly disappointed by his work on The Last Jedi, they will be happy to discover that Knives Out carries with it the antidote to their disappointment and frustration with that film. What could've easily ended up being a generic and boring murder mystery, proves to be a pleasant and creative surprise that's more than welcomed in today's climate of filmmaking.

Final Verdict: Knives Out is a must see for murder mystery fans, cinema fans, and fans of Rian Johnson as a filmmaker.