REVIEW: Knives Out’s Thrombey Family May Make Your Family Look Good this Holiday Season
You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family and that is never more true than in Rian Johnson’s new film, Knives Out. The “whodunit” features the Thrombey family, who are all suspects when their patriarch, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in his home. Featuring an all-star cast, Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) attempts to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of the famed. During the investigation, a number of family members appear who may have had a hand in the author’s murder. Though, Thrombey’s nurse, Marta (Ana de Armas) is the one that takes center stage since she is the last one to see the famed author alive .
The story is less a figure out who did it and instead focuses on a handful of characters. There is so much focus that it soon becomes clear to audiences who really killed Thrombey. With that being said, the movie is beautifully shot by Johnson. Every camera angle was carefully crafted to propel the story and to help magnify a certain scene, character, or plot piece. At no point did the shots distract from the storytelling or lead the audience to believe something else was going on.
The actors featured are such fun, too. From Craig to Chris Evans, there was not a dull one in the bunch. Evans plays Harlan Thrombey’s spoiled grandson, Ransom and it was so nice seeing him play a brat in this movie. Fans are so used to seeing him as golden boy, Captain America, that his portrayal of Ransom is a breath of fresh air. Katherine Langford plays Thrombey’s other grandchild, Meg, and was underutilized in this movie. It would have been nice to see her take part in more scenes, especially ones with de Armas’ character, Marta.
Ana de Armas assumes the role of Marta and is quite adept at doing so. While Craig brought a whole new accent to his repertoire, it was a little jarring at first to hear a Southern accent coming from Craig’s mouth. Eventually the accent sounded natural. Jamie Lee Curtis played Thrombey’s daughter, Linda, and was also extremely underutilized in this movie. Her character could have been a fun one to watch spice up certain scenes in the movie.
Knives Out may not be the perfect movie to see with the family this Holiday season, but it is an entertaining movie worth seeing. Make sure to go in with the notion that it is less of a “whodunit” movie and more of a straight up mystery movie.
Grade: B+