Knives Out Review Sharp Mystery With A Cast Of Jerks The Nerd Stash

Title: Knives Out

Release Date: November 27th, 2019

Studio: Lionsgate, Media Rights Capital

Director: Rian Johnson

Release Format: Theatrical

Knives Out is an intriguing who-done-it film that keeps you guessing until the very end. There’s a lot of great parts to this experience that outshines some of the minor setbacks.

The film takes place after a wealthy old man suspiciously dies right after his birthday party. Now, it’s up to one of the world’s most famous detectives Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to find out who from the deceased’s crazy and petty family might have killed him.

This is a film full of characters who are more over the top than Thelma & Louise on the edge of a cliff. This is one of the most engaging movies that I’ve seen in a moment where it feels like the audience was in a live Escape Room. Unfortunately, that might also be the downside in the replayability as there’s not much reason for second viewings

Get a Clue

Knives Out does a great job of giving you breadcrumb pieces of what really went down the night of the murder. At times, I’m terrible at picking up on things and I was able to get who the killer/killers may have been early on.

There’s a Lil Wayne line that goes ” Automatic, leave ’em dead in the living room. Get it? Leave ’em dead in the living room.” No, I didn’t for years until it hit me like a ton of bricks when I was driving one day. Yet, somehow I was able to be Sherlock Holmes in this film.

After speaking with some others who didn’t get it until way later it seems, I was one of the few who caught on. Now, this means three possible things: either I got the right person for the wrong reasons, even a blind man can see who the killer is or Knives Out did great storytelling.

The first 30 minutes of this film had me wondering if I was a live-action Naruto Shippuden due to the number of flashbacks. At the moment, I thought they were too much but by the end, it turns out they were central to figuring things out.

While I did like the extra-ness of these characters, the writing is what fails those figures and their stories a lot of the time. The comedy is dry and while I wouldn’t say it falls flat, it definitely doesn’t hit as hard as it could.

On top of being a mystery, this is also a comedy film which makes the jokes that fall flat less forgivable. A movie being that’s half a comedy not being too funny is like buying a car that can’t drive but only use the AC, kind of pointless like some jokes here.

The script really could have used a punch of writer to take these jokes to the next level. However, I did get many good laughs here and there. The entertaining narrative and characters were more than enough to keep me going, covering up for the so-so gags.

One Messy Group

Craig’s (Blanc) takes a while to warm up to as you try to get a read of what he is about. But, mainly his cartoonish accent that is the biggest hill to climb as Blanc sounds like a Foghorn Leghorn. He sounds like whenever he’s not on a case at, his day job is selling buckets of chicken.

The absolute best part of this film is Ransom (Chris Evans) as every scene he is in is delightful. He is a rich jerk with a mouth that could make a nun swear at him. Anytime he talks is gold and brings a welcomed dynamic to

Marta (Ana De Amas) plays a very relatable character as she is just a nurse caught up in all this craziness. She goes through so much in this film dealing with this horrible family, you

Everyone plays their roles well here no matter how minor. Each character adds a welcomed different spice to this film that makes it come alive. The problem is how much time is dedicated to flashbacks to the point you feel as disengaged as when a spouse tells their partner about their day for the 100th time.

Worth The Rough Edges

Verdict: Knives Out is worth a look as it feels like your not only watching but also playing a game of Clue with other audience members.

The script while smart needed a couple more rewrites as rarely ever hit as they should. There are definitely laughs to be had even some parts of the experience are a bit clunky like the pacing. It’s worth taking the plunge into a theater this holiday to see Knives Out with some family or friends.

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