Lower your expectations & you'll enjoy, raise them too much & you'll be disappointed

Rating: 6/10 (6 January 2020)

Have to say I was a little disappointed by this, not because it isn't good. Arguably it is, but no doubt because so many rave reviews suggested this would be outstandingly good, which it isn't. So as with so many films your experience & enjoyment will depend on the expectations you bring with you.
Overall I think nearly everyone will enjoy this, particularly those who are tired of the standard fair of superhero movies or bloated CGI. Having said that while this is a far more intelligent kind of movie than the comparisons it is not entirely atypical of Hollywood. One of the good things or bad things about the movie depending on your point of view is the unstated but clearly evident political commentary beneath, but not always beneath, the surface and while this might add to your enjoyment if you like your bourgeois country house mysteries subtly subverted it's difficult not to be aware throughout that the politics on show is likely to inform the solution to the movie, which without giving too much away it ultimately does.
What is genuinely enjoyable is Daniel Craig's slightly preposterous turn as a southern detective with an laid on thick accent to match. The rest of the cast features some big names, but unfortunately as others have pointed out they don't always have that much to do. Jamie Lee Curtis and Toni Collette are pretty much wasted as arguably is Don Johnson.
The Plot of course in any whodunnit is the biggest player of all, and while it's quite good, it isn't that good or that original. The key device upon which the solution depends is fairly basic and the solution may or may not be guessable (for the record I didn't work out who did it, but did work out the mechanism involved). If one compares this with mysteries that pose genuine conundrums and puzzlement Knives Out falls somewhat short. A part of the problem is that for much of the film it isn't clear how any crime could have taken place and for that reason one has to place trust in the story that a crime really has taken place. In the event we discover a crime did take place but given its virtual imperceptibility it never came across as in any way shocking or sinister.
Perhaps the best aspect of the film, aside of Daniel Craig, was the fact that the Johnston achieves a quite nice balance between the comedy & the thriller aspects which actually makes this film a more pleasant experience than it might have been the case had it just been a straight up thriller. I'll probably be in the minority on this one but in that respect though I'd have to say I probably enjoyed Adam Sandler & Jennifer Aniston's Murder Mystery more than this, including with regard to the solution. Knives Out is the better film overall but not quite as good as it - or anyone else I'd venture - thinks it is. Still enjoyable though