Knives Out (2019)

Hercule Poirot returns as Benoit Blanc. That's the first feeling you get after the end credits of "Knives Out". Or otherwise said, since the distant ages when I had time to watch episodes of Midsommer Murders I didn't see anything more Agatha Christie than this. The difference is that we have a personal touch of Rian Johnson here, which transforms what would be a Sunday afternoon TV show in a bit more than the classic murder mystery story.

But that's where we start from, "the classic murder mystery story". Harlan Thrombey, a best-selling author of crime novels (how else), celebrates his 85th birthday in the company of his dysfunctional family, out of whom everybody seems to have a reason to not let him live up to his 86th anniversary. In this setting we also find Marta, a nurse, immigrated from somewhere in the South America (nobody remembers the exact country), who's responsible with the daily shots administered to the old man, and also acting involuntarily as a psychotherapist for the patient. An important character, especially due to a key element in the whole context - she cannot lie without triggering instant puke. The morning after the party, we find Mr. Thrombey in a pool of blood, with his throat slit, everything pointing to a suicide. But the verdict is postponed when Benoit Blanc, a renowned PI is hired by an unknown somebody to solve the case, and he asks the police to let him get involved in the investigation. So... "the plot thickens" ;)

Surprisingly the "thickens" part doesn't last more than a quarter of the movie, and we find out who did it. Which makes it close to impossible to continue this blog entry without spoilers. That's the cool part of "Knives Out". From a classic approach: group of suspects -> case investigation -> solved murder, we have an unexpected move into another movie pattern: we know who did it -> let's see if/how they catch the murderer. It's not exactly revolutionary, there are plenty of movies following that approach too. But more interesting is that after this twist providing the answer, clear and beyond doubt, leaving as only reason to continue just admiring the talent of Mr. Blanc in his path of unraveling the truth, surprise... Three quarters in the movie we get another major change in the action plot. Again, I won't spoil it. All I can say is that it's not as much of a surprise after all. Half the movie is enough to start catching some elements and doubt a bit about that clear answer not being that complete, but I would be an hypocrite to say I was expecting everything that followed ;)

To move out a bit from the temptation area of providing spoilers, let's talk about the movie making. We have many known names as actors, and their acting could compete for the best ensemble cast at the Oscars, if such a category would exist. Besides that, initially it seems to look like that Sunday afternoon TV show = a crime story with a decent plot, the typical complications + a comic part, but nothing very special, just up to the last quarter. Which is probably a bit long, although compensated by good editing, sound, witty dialogues, all of these summing up to a final verdict of a "light fun twisted movie". Still, I would say that the last part starts getting also some depth. It's a fine touch, but it's there, and besides the dark humor of the situation, in the end it also adds a more serious note of "karma fights back & the good wins" ;) That's it, I'm getting back to spoilers, and if I continue more like that it will get too cryptic - just watch the movie ;)

Rating: 4.5 out of 5