KNIVES OUT (2019) FILM REVIEW

***

12A, 130 Mins

Rian Johnson mystery isn't a "whodunnit like no one's ever dunnit", but a loving Chistie pastiche with lashings of Lynchian absurdity.

"A whodunnit like no one's ever dunnit" is the tagline movie posters and trailers have been parading around like some sort of Chaucerian verse in the run-up to the release of 'Knives Out' (2019). Considering it's a Rian Johnson "whodunnit", you wouldn't be a fool for expecting it to be exactly that. This is the man responsible for bringing one of the most uniquely innovative pieces of Sci-Fi in recent years with the brilliant 'Looper' (2012), taking the famously light and kitschy 'Star Wars Saga' (1977-2019) to dark, unpredictable places in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' (2017) and directing arguably the most shocking hour of Television ever presented to the small screen with 'Breaking Bad' masterpiece 'Ozymandias' (2013).

If there's any disappointment with his hugely anticipated latest film, it's that it lacks originality. This is, at heart, an old-fashioned murder mystery that makes little attempt to subvert any of the well-worn tropes woven by traditional works of this kind. That's not to say there isn't still plenty to enjoy in 'Knives Out' with its loving Agatha Christie pastiches, laugh-out-loud moments and lashings of Lynchian absurdity.

Daniel Craig serves up a cracking performance as the shambolic private eye Benoit Blanc. A delicious mix of Hercule Poirot and Peter Falk's Colombo, it's a role about a million miles away from his lean, mean Bond and one that allows Craig to  exercise his surprising comic chops replete with classic one-liners delivered in a splendid Southern drawl.

Under investigation for the murder of an ageing writer (Christopher Plummer) are an all-star cast of cartoonishly caricatured characters - ranging from Michael Shannon to Toni Collette to Jamie-Lee Curtis -  housed in a marvellous Gothic mansion which's scorching fireplace burns up every bit of scenery with the same vim that 'Ready or Not' (2019) recently brought to the comedy horror genre. Like in that film, there's a scabrous undertone of class politics at work here with Director Johnson poking and prodding at the stiff upper lip stereotypes usually associated with the rich; suggesting, once again, that the upper class aren't as stately as they seem.

There's a touch of David Lynch too to be found in the film's lengthy segments of slightly surreal individuals spending leisurely time in tranquility with singy-songy melodies simmering in the background to ratchet up the horrifying notion that this existence is too perfect to exist. It's all padding for a wonderfully absurdist climax featuring a Kentucky fried turn from Chris Evans that wittily makes use of slo-mo shots as means for a slice of slapstick humour.

Admittedly, the supporting cast could've had a little more flesh to them. In a world where the likes of 'The Killing' ('Forbrydelsen') (2011-2012), 'Broadchurch' (2013-2017) and 'The Missing' (2014-2016) have raised the bar for explorations of the emotional toll of serious crimes like murder and abduction, there's something slightly retrograde and dated about 'Knives Out's cluedo-style approach to its suspects and victims. Arguably, however, psychological depth is not part of Johnson's crime canvas though. Beyond being one on the horrors that lurk beneath the rich's seemingly lavish lifestyle, this is a satire on the "whodunnit" sub-genre itself. It makes a case that the cardboard cut-out characters that once occupied the cases of 'Miss Marple' and 'Murder, She Wrote' are relics of the past and should stay that way. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them here.

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