Knives Out

I could rate this film with four stars and say it’s a very entertaining, witty and funny detective movie. But Rian Johnson not only directed his film, but also wrote its script. And he wrote it as a homage to Agatha Christie, who conceived her detective stories in a similar spirit. Form the beginning, you have to pay close attention to what is going on in the film. Even the tiniest detail might be of importance in the investigation. If I said anything more, it might be a spoiler, so I’ll just say that if you like Hercule Poirot and his investigations, try to watch this with as little knowledge of the plot as possible, and look forward to Daniel Craig’s performance. Even though everyone’s performances are perfect, listening to Daniel’s ingeniously eccentric English was just divine. I enjoyed this greatly, that’s why I’m giving this five stars. Knives Out are a detective story you don’t get to see today, offering an original plot hardly anyone would write these days (except for book-based films). For me, it was an absolute film orgy. (10/01/2020)

It's a beautiful film. An imaginative case with a good bunch of interesting characters, some of them played by great actors. Needless to say, even those who were less known or completely unknown to me fit in with them easily. The whole thing is orchestrated by Daniel Craig, who leaves Bond behind completely and kicks things off as a very charismatic detective. The kind with real insight that you trust will crack the case in the end, but you still have to watch him do it. For me, it's basically a perfect show. 5 stars. (11/04/2020)

I've always liked Rian Johnson and I like how inventive his films are, and I think the best word to describe Knives Out is ‘cunning’. Johnson manages to lull the audience initially by making the film look more or less like a classic whodunit, with several suspects and a killer hiding among them. But after about twenty minutes, Johnson starts playing with genres, procedures, story and overall directorial delivery. He makes several drastic style changes, manages to poke fun at the audience, the clichés and his own characters, and is one step ahead of everyone in the room the entire time, for just when you think you've got Knives Out figured out, you find that Johnson has once again outsmarted you. And you're going to love it. By the way, I haven't seen a movie in a long time where it's so terribly obvious in all the actors how much they are enjoying their work and characters. (07/01/2020)

The trailer promised an old-school whodunit, and that's what the film is. I was very entertained until about halfway through, liking how completely but utterly everyone was lying and how Daniel Craig's character (who took me a while to get used to, at the time) accepted all the lies with a knowing smile. But somewhere in the second half it all started to get a bit scratchy, I suddenly felt like I was ahead of the investigators when I shouldn't have been, a feeling that was gradually confirmed and confirmed... until it was confirmed. I don't mind too much if the ending of a mystery doesn't shock me or at least surprise me, but I don't like it when it doesn't satisfy me at all and leaves me completely cold because it gives a terribly twisted impression. In a story by Agatha Christie or A. C. Doyle, on whose legacy Knives Out is based, this would never have happened. (08/01/2020)

Knives Out offers cool stylization and a great ensemble cast, but the final unravelling of the mystery didn’t do much for me. On the one hand, its elements were predictable based on earlier events and, on the other hand, an important character was suspiciously sidelined. Even so, I very much enjoyed the time spent in that company and with such skilful filmmaking. I found it more entertaining than Branagh’s new (overly digitalised) Poirot. (22/01/2020)