Knives Out – Another Murder Mystery with Brilliant Actors

Every coincidence is a spoiler

So it starts off when the Thrombeys` housekeeper finds her boss, head of the household, the famous detective author, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) dead. Apparently, because of the high-profile nature of the death, several policemen come to the house the next morning to investigate the details. However, we know that there must be only one phenomenal detective in this galaxy of investigators, and that is why Benoit Blanc appears.

Daniel is phenomenal, here as always, and handsome above and beyond the script, not only that I like his personality (of course I do), but he acts cool enough to force everyone to accept – Bondiana, TGWDT, Renaissance (multiplication of Christian Volkman) – just the edges of his talent. No doubt about it, but Daniel overcomes himself, he manipulates, analyzes, jokes, and manipulates again, and in the end chooses to co-work with the `suspected` Marta Cabrere (Ana de Armas, “Blade Runner”, and they act together in the upcoming James Bond movie) – Harlan`s nurse, who has a unique response to lying – she burps and throws up, even if she just thinks about speaking falsehoods.

Actually, Daniel has seen Marta expose her body, at least partially, so in the Bond movie they have no secrets and finally, we can predict, they make ideal teammates. We will see the great premier of `The Agent 007` this coming April.

Back to the plot: Marta has mixed up two bottles of medicine and has given Harlan a dangerous Morphine injection, leaving him only 10 minutes to live, during 4 of which minutes she tries to find an antidote, which has disappeared from her bag, in weird circumstances (that were revealed by the housekeeper, that`s why she died) when the medicines were taken out of the right order. That`s the point at which the most interesting developments begin.

Nothing brings the family together like murder

So, the Thrombey family tree consists of the oldest daughter Linda – a real estate mogul (Jamie Lee Curtis `Halloween`, `Freaky Friday`), the son Walter – the official nickname – the publishing heir (Michael Shannon `The Shape of Water`, ` Nocturnal Animals`, ` Elvis & Nixon`, ` Man of Steel`) and Joni, widow of the third son – the lifestyle guru (Toni Colette `Little Miss Sunshine`, `Hereditary`). These are three different characters, as well as three different egos.

Note: please, pay attention to one special moment, whether you have already watched the movie or are going to for the first time. There is a hint with Harlan`s birthday cake, particularly when he blows the candles out, remember who appears near the grandfather, it complies with the order of the evidence and the relatives, who arrange themselves to reflect a self–evaluation of the most important family members.

Past failures that affect the present

In a script like this, greed and envy are obvious factors. But everyone has his own secret, except the desire for money. We probably see the past failures that affect the present, for instance Harlan’s decision to disinherit family members – all to the advantage of Marta. Moreover, Linda`s son Hugh Ransom Drysdale –  the trust fund playboy (Chris Evans – the marvel hero `Fantastic Four`, `Captain America`, ` The Avengers`), fakes `the mistaken actions` of Marta; and thus, she believes she was guilty in the suicide. Again, Linda`s husband Richard Drysdale (Don Johnson `The Other Woman`, `Django Unchained`) is cheating on her with a younger woman, which Marta knows about, otherwise she is forced to lie to Benny, and all her inner circle are outside every time he confounds her with questions. On the other hand, Hugh also manipulates her curse to cover his tracks, as we could see in the perfect episode of the bean dinner.

By the way, during the shooting, Chris Evans ate crackers all the time to seem rude and confident, while Ana de Armas followed a bean diet – both of them affirming that it was a good prank.     

The whole Thrombey family – there are three more heroes – include Donna and Walt`s son – Jacob Thrombey, internet geek (Jaeden Martell star of `IT` and `IT2`)and Joni`s daughter Meg Thrombey – Katherine Langford (‘13 Reasons Why’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’).

Knife of steal or plastic

This story is unpredictable, as earlier were Agatha Christie’s `Murder on the Orient Express` and `Crooked House` and Martin Scorsese’s `Shutter Island` –  with the main events taking place only inside the manor or train, with several episodes outside. But the most tender moments, to bring out all of your demons, whether you act in the movie or live an actual life, set boundaries that put pressure on you. This is the perfect moment to take some risky decisions, nevertheless the sharp edges tend to destroy positive illusions about yourself. It is much more suitable to be just the way you are with pure intentions, even those of us who don`t have stories that will make it to the screen.

P.S.  Someone wrote a pretty nice quote on a YOUTUBE page

`The only mystery in this movie is how they got those dogs not to like Chris Evans? `

Another secret for people.

Read more reviews from the author.

Photos: MovieStillsDB

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