Knives Out (2019)

That time when Craig was first announced as the new OO7...

My beloved Raymond Chandler once wrote that, and I paraphrase, a good mystery book is one where you can still read even if someone has ripped off the final chapter. I concur. That is why his own books are highly readable....and are my writing Bibles...

It’s the ride that matters. Many whodunnits that emphasise on the ending, never truly stood the test of time. Those which emphasised on character study played with the dialogues and are careful with the staging of the scenes, each scene, are still enjoyed today, whether they are books or films.

The director of Knives Out, Rian Johnson must have had these in his mind when he made this mildly intriguing flick. We know “whodunnit” at quite an early stage. But it’s the other Ws, and the How that we need to figure out.

This film works when it lets the actors each whip their own acting chops out, or should I say, their performance knives out. All shone and glittered accordingly. Those are big names you see on the screen, especially the venerable 89-year-old, still going strong, Christopher Plummer, as the killed patriarch of the family that will gather in traditional locked-room mystery scenario, answering the detective’s queries, so on and so forth.

What works well in the film is the fact that it keeps us engaged all the time. As mentioned, the onscreen performances are riveting all around, as expected especially for the more seniors. But I was happier and connected with the girl, Ana de Armas, who was brilliant, as the maid who could be the murderer.

Leading them all is Daniel Craig as a southern accented detective who gets to solve the case. He managed to leave behind his superspy persona and proved that he was originally a wonderful character actor before they picked him up for that, THAT tux and gun.

I first saw him playing Paul Newman’s sadistic son in Road To Perdition. It occurred to me back then, that what if someone like this would play Bond, having had disappointed that they did not renew Timothy Dalton’s contract. Dalton, who basically was proto-Craig/Bond who happened to be in the wrong era.

Here, Craig, and his southern drawl (or is it a twang?) with his English accent creeping in here and there is a draw by itself. He doesn’t do much as the detective called in to investigate the murder, and he somehow seemed to be working things out as the characters clash in front of him.

And when the denouement arrives, you feel his presence even greater, and appreciate his affinity for the main suspect for the supposed homicide. Or is it a homicide? Was there an accident? Foul play….oh well, the usual questions you ask in a typical whodunit.

There isn’t many whodunits that excited me of late. It was far too back…the last one I truly enjoyed were not even of that genre: Glengarry Glenn Ross (1992) and The Usual Suspect (1995)….and both had Kevin Spacey…hmmm…

Anyway, it’s the ride that matters and not the destination as far as my own preference for mysteries are concerned. Especially its not whodunits, but whydoit that intrigues me, and this film does not quite get to that department all that much as it involves the usual motive: dough.

And so, it’s a good film…and works only because it has a wonderful cast. And I am terribly impressed with de Armas. Hope she makes good career choices…the history of Hollywood is littered with the corpses of many dead hopes for young, bright talents.