Knives Out: In the Tradition of an Agatha Christie Who Done It, But Better!

Movie Review: Knives Out (2019)
Version: Amazon Prime rental

In the mood for a good mystery? In the style of an Agatha Christie who-done-it? With an ensemble of strange characters all of whom are prime suspects but only one surely must of done it? A ring of clueless policemen but one immensely smart privately consulting detective with at least one irritating quirk who can't quite figure out the crime-defining question but is always on the cusp of finding the answer? Oh, and the victim -- the irascible old man everyone has a reason to kill! Well, that's Knives Out in a nutshell!

It features the usual cast of notables. Christopher Plummer is the victim, one famous mystery writer Harlan Thrombey. Did he commit suicide or was he killed by any of a number of family members or family staff in a position and with a reason to slit his throat? There is daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her husband Richard Drysdale (Don Johnson), and ungrateful grandson Ransom (Chris Evans). They've been living off the old man's fortune too long, to his disappointment. Son Walt Thrombey (Michael Shannon) ran the old man's publishing house but was never allowed to run with his instincts and always felt held back in his father's shadow. His son Jacob (Jaeden Martell) was a spoiled family muckraker who enjoyed inciting a family squabble. Granddaughter Meg Thrombey (Katherine Langford) was the apple of her grandfather's eye, dutifully sending a six-figure check to cover her college tuition, until he discovered her mother Joni (Toni Collette) was double billing the accountant and stealing from dear old granddad. That leaves housekeeper Fran (Edi Patterson) who was discovered with a blackmail note and nurse Marta (Ana de Arnas) who was the last person to see Harlan alive. Who could solve this difficult crime? Why, the privately consulting detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) with the irritating Southern gentlemanliness. And so he goes after the clues and that one remaining question he can't quite solve till the very end.

Now, watching a Brit like Craig handle the Southern drawl and charm with such adeptness, after years of watching him play steely-eyed James Bond, was a revelation of his acting skills. He totally took on that role and won the character. He vied with Jamie Lee Curtis, with her verve and sparkle, for steeling the show. It should be noted that Frank Oz of Muppets fame came out of whole cloth to play a human attorney.

The only thing I can compare this film to is Murder on the Orient Express or perhaps Clue, mysteries with large ensemble casts and celebrity roles. It has that look and feel. And so you cannot take it seriously as a mystery, although the conclusion is a surprise. Still, it was a fun story and worth a watch. Jamie Lee Curtis is always fun to watch, Daniel Craig is interesting in this new role, Chris Evans gets to stretch his creative legs in this role, and Toni Collette is delicious in her character. Christopher Plummer commands the screen. Just for their performances, it's worth the watch.

So here's the gist of the story. Harlan Thrombey is a famous mystery writer. His family returns to the "ancestral home" to celebrate his 85th birthday. The next morning his private nurse discovers he has died and investigating police surmise Harlan has committed suicide. But private detective Benoit Blanc, anonymously hired by a mysterious source, attends a follow-up interview of those present that evening, and he has questions. He discovers each of the family members had reason to want Harlan Thrombey dead. Grandson Ransom had left the party early that night but returns late to answer questions and so also becomes one of the suspects. Through flashbacks we learn truths about some of the testimony and about other events that give context to occurrences that night, including an important role nurse Marta played. Even up to the end, all isn't as it seems. Of course! In the last moment, Benoit Blanc discovers the answer to his final question and the culprit is revealed.

As is always so with these ensemble casts, everyone is not just a suspect but every clue is a misdirect. And the job of the viewer is to listen intently without getting snookered. Knives Out is probably one of the better written who-done-its. I think you will agree. Perhaps when it fades to credits, you will find that's the real reveal at the end.

Blade Runner 2049: As Dark, Dank, and Mystical as the Original

Movie Review: Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Version: Library borrow

Blade Runner 2049 is the sequel to the 1982 scifi hit, Blade Runner, and takes place thirty years later. It is as dark, dank, and mystical as the original, but it is as equally imaginative and amazing to watch.

In today's version, original protagonist Rick Deckard (played once again by Harrison Ford) has gone missing for thirty years. Our new protagonist "K" (played by Ryan Gosling), is an enigmatic LAPD officer and blade runner with no human name gunning for rogue replicants with little apparent regard for life. He does, however, have a soft spot for a holographic heart throb named Joi (played by Ana de Armas), whom he upgrades from apartment mate to case partner in a heart beat. She helps K seek out Deckard, whom K finds is tied into a mysterious case involving an old corpse with indications of a replicant childbirth, which is both unheard of and troublesome for human-replicant relations. He finds himself opposed by a stealthy and dangerous replicant named Luv (played by Sylvia Hoeks), who is also in search of Deckard and the child they both find out still exists. Both think Deckard is the key to finding the child -- Luv for using the child to further research into replicant birthing, and K for killing. Deckard, hiding in deserted Las Vegas, hid the child thirty years ago and has no idea where it is, yet K and Luv battle it out for control of existing clues.

What is intriguing about Blade Runner 2049 is its breadth of vision and attention to detail. The director, set designer, and cinematographer went into great depth to tell this story. The constant fog and drip of water, the great wall protecting the city from the ocean and the powerful ocean waves on its opposing side, the gritty urban facade and the sleazy sexual debauchery of urban decay, the dank loneliness of the countryside. Every imaginative detail is there, lending authenticity to the story. The characters are made powerfully real by great acting performances. Yet true to the original Blade Runner, not much of that universe seems to have changed, visually.

What is mystical is the story line. But then, this is science fiction, a story of a future world in which we aren't totally familiar. The idea of replicants, the people who hunt them down if they get out of line, and a dystopian future existence unrelatable to us naturally makes this all confusing to us. Even though stories of dystopian futures is a popular genre today. That's really what made the original Blade Runner interesting before and now Blade Runner 2049 interesting now. They explore ideas that make us uncomfortable and themes that seem unfathomable yet potentially unavoidable.

Walking out of the theater, or if you're watching it on DVD walking away from the TV screen, and back into reality, you can feel a sense of relief in today's world, even as crazy at it sometimes seems. You can tell yourself, "Thank God this make-believe world is a long time away, and maybe there's still time to avoid it." But then, as of this writing, 2049 is only 31 years in the future. Can we see the Earth getting to this place by then? It is, after all, just science fiction -- right?