I had no expectations going in...pleasantly surprised coming out

Rating: 8/10 (27 November 2019)

One of the more entertaining movies of the year. A well made quirky whodunit.
Liked a lot -
Characters were eclectic, although not too original, but were very entertaining. Daniel Craig's character, as a hired PI, was my favorite. His Southern accent caught me off guard at first. I'm guessing him and Chris Evens took these roles to get past their James Bond and Captain America characters. A nice departure for both.
Very strong acting all the way around, however the lead female actor, Ana de Armas stole the show. She had some great emotional close ups that were very captivating. This is the first movie I noticed her in but I will look for her now in others.
The pace of the file was strong from beginning to end. One of the few films over the last year that I lost track of time and was fully immersed in.
Good for all ages, which was nice since I had a 12 year old with me. All of the family enjoyed the film.
So so -
The whodunit kept me engaged until the end, but the plot did have some holes. I was OK with them since they didn't play a big role in the overall story line. Also, the move was moving fast, so I soon forgot about them.
Dislike -
One of the main reasons I couldn't give this 10 stars (besides the plot holes) is that the movie had the charters talk about present day politics at the dinner table. I'm very liberal and the message that was being supported was liberal as well, but I go to (comedy) movies to get away from politics. It wasn't needed and was a turn off for me. I thought the movie did the same thing, but in a much better and subtle way, when all of the family claimed that the Latino nurse (the main caregiver of the murdered father, played by Ana de Armas) was part of their family, but couldn't remember where the nurse's family was from (a running joke through out the film as the characters told what happened from their point of view). Or how the family didn't want the nurse to be at the funeral, but everyone claimed to the nurse's face that they voted that she should be allowed to attend (another running joke). I thought these more subtle ways did a great job showing how the family felt about "the help", making the more direct approach at the dinner table feel preachy (didn't fit the mood of the quirky comedy). The same is true about one of the characters (the grandson of the murdered grandfather). I won't go into details, but you will get my point when you see the movie. That ways over the top and not needed either.