Knives Out
KNIVES OUT - Lionsgate
Rian Johnson returns behind the director’s chair — two years after his much-hyped science fiction epic, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, led to the meltdown of both fan base and the internet alike — with the Daniel Craig fronting Knives Out.
Johnson's latest very similarly subverts expectations and genre conventions as his last outing albeit with far more successful and engaging results. With no chance to disrupt a preexisting fanbase, Johnson puts all his efforts to craft a new wave of genre and succeeds in a film that has superb tonal balance, pacing and performances with an equally as delightful screenplay.
Much like the previously mentioned The Last Jedi or even Blade Runner: 2049, Knives Out is wonderfully woven in a manner of trajectory that feels woefully constructed and suspiciously reveals itself far too early for the desired impact it wants to convey. However, writer/director Johnson inverts the expectations and path of what the audience suspects with a screenplay that is working and layering on multiple levels of suspense and deceit. Contextually, the film provides an unreliable narrator but the film itself perfectly exudes such a stance with its twist and turns regarding its very own structure.
In regards to said layers and weight, there is a significant amount of extra material here; at times, this drowns the film with the overall plot. A sudden comment every so often about the current state of American politics crops up. While it is contextually relevant concerning a plot point within the film, it feels somewhat undercooked and the comedic relief does not quite work as effectively as Johnson would hope, feeling more so tired than woke.
The film is also far too overcrowded and excessive concerning characters. Multiple performances such as Toni Collette, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell are just a few that evoke an incredibly one-note, bland or even redundant presence to the overall arc of the film due to the limited material provided. These three specific performers are ultimately lost in an excessive nature to cover as much ground as possible and not concentrate and divulge on the strong material that it has at its feet, of which is the most entertaining.
KNIVES OUT (Daniel Craig) - Lionsgate
On the other side of the coin, it is Michael Shannon, Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Johnson who steal each scene they are included. Bizarrely it relates to their respective screen presence and crafting of their specific character traits and charm rather than depth provided to them by Johnson's screenplay. Before long, the viewer wants them and them only without any baggage; however, when the film cuts away and then back again, it makes those small moments even more engaging.
That being said it is the performance of Ana de Armas, an actress of whom Hollywood has often forgotten or relegated to a supporting role, that steals the show here with an engulfing emotional and charismatic performance that is utterly dominating throughout. Johnson writes the actress a role with strange albeit comedic character traits to work with that will presumably annoy some and indulge a certain sense of humour in others, but Armas has an incredible skill to balance tone with a resulting performance that equals a tremendously captivating display of talent.
Nevertheless, Knives Out is plagued with technical issues and problems. There are countless moments of poorly implemented A.D.R. that a film at this level should have been easily rectified in post-production but sticks out like a sore thumb. The film also boasts incredibly flat cinematography from Steve Yedlin, who exercises an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 to presumably intensify the mystery and claustrophobia of the Thrombey household but ultimately offers quite the opposite embellishment of a form of cheapness.
Knives Out is released November 27th, 2019
