Knives Out 2019

     Renowned crime Novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday.  Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate.  The family and his private nurse are gathered together to discuss where they were and what they were doing at the time of Harlan’s death.  A complication is that his private nurse Marta Cabrera receives all the money from Hanlan's estate.  All of the family members are appalled and horrified that they have been cut out of the money!!  Despite the seriousness of Blanc’s investigation, the family members tell self-serving lies and create red herrings to complicate the inquiry.

     This movie is like the films based on Agatha Christie stories.  There is a murder victim with some blood, fighting including punching, slapping, arguing and harsh language between relatives and an employee.  One married man is said to have had an affair.  People drink at a party, characters smoke cigars and pot.  Prescription medications are injected, there is talk about a morphine addict.  There are both elements of mystery and comedy.  What stands out is the message that kindness and compassion are important qualities in a person.  Lying and depending on monetarily supported and jobs from a relative can lead to jealously, hatred, competition and comparisons between relatives about what they are receiving.  I wondered why the makeup of some of the women made them look very old and wrinkled.  Some of the men also looked old, wrinkled and with fake tans.  I think that Daniel Craig’s strange accent was to separate him from his James Bond character.  Also, I think he is wearing a heavy coat to increase his size to make him seem more authoritative?  4 1/2* (I liked this movie)

    
130 min, Crime directed and written by Rian Johnson with Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer, Katerine Langford, Jadeden Martell, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, Frank Oz, K. Callan, Noah Segan, M. Emmet Walsh, Marlene Forte, Raul Castillo, Kerry Frances.

Note:  Imdb 7.9* out of 10* with 370,875, Rotten Tomatoes 97% with 447 critics 92% with 33,830 audience scores, Roger Ebert 3 1/2* Brian Tallerico, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Mark Kermode, Common Sense Media Jeffrey M. Anderson, age 13+, positive messages 3*, role models 2*, violence 4*, sex, language 3*, consumerism 2*, drinking drugs & smoking 3*.

Special Note:  Released 27 November 2019 in the USA.  K Callan plays Christopher Plummer’s mother in this film and she is actually six years younger than Plummer?  Agatha Christie also died at the age of 85 and she authored many mystery stories.  Most of the F bombs in the script were removed to secure a PG-13 rating.  Also, the director wanted to keep the film more like the mystery films he used to watch with his family growing up.  There are several artworks and window designs in the mansion featuring memento mori, depicting scenes of everyday life populated by skeletons or souls.  Memento mori translates remember you are mortal and was popular in Victorian times.  It is to remind individuals that death comes for all people, rich or poor.