Knives Out

Summary

“Knives out. Beaks bloody.”

Rian Johnson is one of the best new voices in film to arise in the last fifteen years. Aside from one film that I thought needed tweaking (Star Wars VIII – The Last Jedi) he has consistently created interesting films that are as heady as they are entertaining. His breakout film Brick came out my sophomore year of college and quickly left the theaters without much attention despite great critical reception. Luckily, Brick was quickly discovered by the public upon its DVD release and gained Johnson a solid fan base. I loved that movie. I thought the way it played with the detective genre within the confines of a high school was incredibly clever. That type of clever storytelling is really the one linking feature of Rian Johnson’s films. His next pictures The Brothers Bloom and Looper were enjoyable and developed their own fan bases. With Knives Out, Johnson once again shows just how dynamite a storyteller he can be when he works within a traditional form. In Knives Out, Johnson uses the form of a murder mystery to explore ideas about class disparity in our country and to satirize the current political climate. It achieves those goals while also delivering a strong mystery story. In my opinion Knives Out was easily one of the best films of 2019 and was well deserving of the Oscar nomination it received for Best Original Screenplay.

At the palatial estate of successful mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plumber,) the  Fran (Edi Patterson) the maid carries a coffee mug and breakfast towards the room of the famed novelist. When she finds him in his study, his throat has been slit and a knife lies on the floor. The two detectives Liutenant Elliott and Trooper Wagner (Lakeith Stanfield and Noah Segan) have ruled the case a suicide, but due to an interested party they have decided to investigate the death for a couple of days. Harlan’s family and staff had gathered for his eighty fifth birthday party the night before his demise. As the family begins to recount the events of the night before in interviews, they encounter a famous investigator named Benoit LeBlanc (Daniel Craig) whom has recently been profiled in the New Yorker. The suspect list for the possible murder is long and all of them have different reasons why they may have killed Harlan. The suspect list includes Harlan’s successful daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis,) her cheating husband Richard Drysdale (Don Johnson) and their trust fund baby son, Ransom (Chris Evans.) There is also Harlan’s eldest son Walt who is the head of Blood and Wine publishing, his wife Donna (Riki Lindhome.) and their alt-right progeny Jacob (Jaeden Martell.) There is also the beauty products producer daughter in law Joni (Toni Collette,) and her college aged daughter Meg (Katherine Langford.) To round out the suspects, there is Harlan’s nurse and caretaker Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas) and the maid Fran.

Knives Out is an exceptional film. The dialogue in the film is incredibly sharp and piercing and the numerous machinations of the screenplay are fantastically clever. This film is a well laid out puzzle that does not want to show itself fully until the picture has completed. It also manages to play with the form by changing the focus of the picture at roughly halfway through the film. The film also functions as an examination of the immigrant experience in this country as seen from the viewpoint of second generation Americans and as a clever barb towards the conceited upper crest of American society that have all became “self made.” As a satire and an examination of America’s political landscape right now, no recent film has pulled off what this film has pulled off: the film shows the landscape in all its ugliness and then encourages us to have a laugh at it all.

The performances in the film are great. Ana de Armas turns in an emotionally complex and impressive performance as Marta. She sells every emotion as she moves through the film and deals with the actions of the family. I hope that she will be cast in more roles in the future. Chris Evans is hilarious and he steals every scene he is in as Ransom. Toni Collette is always great and does not disappoint. Watching her dance next to Jamie Lee Curtis gave me a good laugh. What everyone will be talking about after they see the film is Daniel Craig and his amazing accent he uses in the film. Just fantastic. Who knew that the man who plays Bond could deliver a Southern accent without taking away from the role? Craig is an incredible Bond and this made me like him even more as an actor. As a side note, I would be pleased if people would cast Don Johnson in character actor roles more often. He is really underutilized. Jamie Lee Curtis and Christopher Plummer are also great in the film. Honestly, Plummer does fantastic work with his role. If this is the finale to his amazing career, it is a great role to go out on. This is one of the most stacked casts since The Grand Budapest Hotel, and watching all of these seasoned actors bounce off of one another is a tremendous amount of fun.

On top of the writing, directing, and excellent cast, it is worth pointing out that this film is visually really strong. Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, long term collaborator of Rian Johnson, lends his hand to the film and the results are pitch perfect. The filmmakers used a unique technique where they filmed in 2K and then used digital filters to make the movie look as if it was shot on film. This gambit works almost flawlessly aside from three very minor occasions in the film that fail to look cinematic, but they are only noticeable because I was looking for moments where the effect did not work completely. The production design by David Crank is perfection. The film nails down the atmosphere with some great setups. The setting feels like it is pulled out of a perfectly written mystery novel thanks to the dense fog and fall setting. 

I really can’t recommend seeing this movie highly enough. I watched it twice within one week and it was just as enjoyable the second time. Don’t miss this one.

Video

As I mentioned in the review, cinematographer Steve Yedlin made an interesting choice by filming in 2K and then using digital filters to make the results look like film. This leads to the film having fairly high contrast levels which lend well to fine detail, but the results still are not quite up to the massively impressive standards set by recent 4K releases like The Shining and 2001. The 4K uptick is still more impressive than on the Blu-ray, but it would not be fair to build it up to a perfect score. That said, the film is visually very appealing and looks fantastic overall. I think their 2K and filter experiment was a success for the most part. Fans will want to get this visual presentation as it will be unlikely that the film will ever look better.

Audio

Lionsgate have provided a great sounding lush Dolby Atmos track. This film heavily relies on dialogue but it also uses the soundscape in very clever ways. While watching the sequences involving Harlan’s death, the soundscape is incredibly important and the surrounds are used very well. The music in the movie is great and I could not contain my joy when the great Rolling Stones banger “Sweet Virginia” began blasting out of my speakers. This is a fantastic listening experience.

Supplements:

The supplements featured are found on the 4K Blu-ray and regular Blu-Ray included in the set. 

• Audio Commentary with Writer / Director Rian Johnson, Director of Photography Steve Yedlin and Actor Noah Segan
• In Theater Commentary with Rian Johnson
• Deleted Scenes 
• Making a Murder – this is a surprisingly robust nearly two hour long feature on the production of the film. I am always surprised when a major label provides deep content to go with the film, and this is a very good piece. Kudos to Lionsgate.
• Rian Johnson: Planning the Perfect Murder – the writer and director discusses how he developed the screenplay.
• Director and Cast Q & A
• Marketing Gallery
• Meet the Thrombeys Viral Ads

Overall scores 

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 5/5

Knives Out is a stellar film. Rian Johnson has proven once again that he is one of the most exciting new choices in cinema. The cast is made up of fantastic actors and none of them miss a beat. Daniel Craig is unbelievably good in the film and so is Ana de Armas. There is a sense of joy that every viewer feels watching Knives Out with good reason. It is essentially a flawless film. Lionsgate has provided a great looking and amazing sounding transfer. The supplemental materials were surprisingly robust. This one deserves to be on your shelf at home.