Knives Out Movie Review
A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.
Why did I come to this movie again?
It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new movie in the theater (barring Spirited Away, which we saw last month) and I’ve been waiting for the holiday film season to start. The hubby showed me a trailer for this movie about a week ago, and I instantly wanted to see it. Between an all-star cast and what looked to be a tightly written murder mystery, how could I resist? When I saw advanced tickets online, I bought them!
5 of 5
Characters
It’s difficult to use cookie-cutter tropes for characters and make it work, but Knives Out did a good job of it.
You’ve got the eccentric millionaire (now dead) found by his nurse. A family full of selfish pigs that see themselves as saints ready to squabble over the fortune they believe belongs to them. And then you’ve got the bizarre detective, played by Daniel Craig, who is a strange mix of Colombo and Sherlock Holmes. Almost bumbling, but brilliant.
All in all the characters were pretty solid, if not propped up by clichés.
I do have to say that hearing a horrible, American southern accent come out of Daniel Craig was off-putting. Which I think was their point.
4 of 5
Did I care what happened?
Yes. Once the ball really started rolling I was totally engrossed.
5 of 5
Plot Holes
I didn’t notice any. Mystery isn’t my strongest genre, so I may have missed something, but part of the fun of the movie is watching the characters trying to plug their own plot holes, which totally distracted me.
5 of 5
How many times did I yawn?
No yawning here.
5 of 5
Cool Factor
While only filmed in a few, mostly mundane, locations, the film itself was stunning. I could tell from the very first scene that each and every shot meant something. Granted, I’m sure I missed most of the deeper meanings, but I didn’t care. The film quickly pulled me in and gave me a place to settle to watch the plot unfold.
One mark down because I actually guessed the plot from the beginning. So the “wow” moment at the end wasn’t a surprise for me. The hubby didn’t catch it, but a few of my friends did.
4 of 5
The End
Like I said, I had guessed the end at the beginning, but watching everyone scramble to keep up with the events of the story kept me entertained.
That being said, the very last scene is such a mirror of the very first scene that I have to give huge kudos to the writers. If you see it, note the very first thing you see and then the very last thing you see. It’s amazing!
4 of 5
Overall Enjoyment
This show was like a train wreck that I didn’t want to stop watching. The girl sitting next to me, a stranger, and I were cracking up at the same parts. No one else was laughing. Pretty sure that’s because the two of us were paying more attention than the others.
Going through the roller coaster of murder and cover-up was seriously fun.
Being a writer, I usually watch for the beats of a show. Things like the midpoint and where the character decides to step into a new world and try it out. I didn’t do that with this movie. As I thought back afterward I picked them out, but the film pulled me in so hard and fast that I didn’t care about the beats. That’s a combo of acting, writing and directing.
5 of 5
Total: 37
That’s a Black Belt!
