Superb Characters and Strong Motifs

Rating: 8/10 (24 January 2020)

Is there to be a return to classic murder, "whodunit" films? Director Rian Johnson believes so with his latest, Knives Out. In the runtime of 131 minutes, the plot progressively thickened and had as many twists as a Twizzler. Following the death of the wealthy Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), grandfather of the affluent Thrombey family, a private detective is hired to investigate the possibility of murder. All of the family members were present the night of Harlan's death, so each is investigated to find the guilty. Beyond the rather basic plot of a detective solving a crime, complicated and modern themes are incorporated to add significant depth.
In many regards, Knives Out follows an overall simple plot of a detective working to solve a murder. However, in detail, it strays from standard practice which supports and hurts the film. A classic "whodunit" mystery, such as Clue (1985), follows a group of characters working to discover who the murderer is among themselves. The guilty person, or people, are usually not revealed until the end to keep the viewer guessing and involved. The person who killed Harlan Thrombey was revealed within the first quarter of the two-hour-long film. This unanticipated event changed the plot and point of view of the mystery for the better and worse. Instead of the whole cast being of equal importance, the plot stuck to a limited group of characters, and it was rather easy to tell who the guilty were. This somewhat worked for the film as it was able to bring in different and complicated motifs, such as loyalty, family, and new versus old in unique and unexpected perspectives.
The development was superb for both the lead and supporting characters, but there was missed potential by not using the complete cast to its fullest. The lead private detective, Benoit Blanc, played by Daniel Craig, brought life and humor along with the impressions of expertise. He shared many qualities with Sherlock Holmes, only Blanc is ironically a southerner and Daniel Craig is British. Benoit teams with Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), a young woman who works at Harlan's house as part of the help, to search the estate for clues of a murder. Blanc thinks he can trust her because every time Marta tells a lie, she throws up. These two characters, along with the disliked and arrogant Ransom Drysdale (Chris Evans), grandson to Harlan, are primarily the lead characters in the plot. Although they were excellently played and intriguing to watch, the remaining cast of around ten was rather only for support. This was disappointing as they all were beautifully developed and had depth, such as the two teenage grandchildren who both had extreme but opposite political views. This was especially true with Harlan's children and in-laws, who all had complex perspectives and motives, from Walt Thrombey (Michael Shannon) who aimed to take over his father's production company but was fired instead, to Richard Drysdale (Don Johnson) who was cheating on his wife, Linda Drysdale (Jamie Lee Curtis). As previously discussed, if the film was more similar to that of Clue, more of the fascinating characters would have been involved and the film would have even more depth.
What kept this movie going was the beautifully designed characters and the excellence in their portrayal by the actors. Also, the dialogue was current and felt real to modern-day issues, the cinematography illustrated the beauty of the setting and created tension, and the strong motifs helped incorporate depth. The only negative was the somewhat see-through plot, which is essential in a mystery. Although it was unique, it was disappointing to not see the cast be used to the fullest.