Knives Out

A spectacular modern crime movie that bends the rules of the genre. Johnson is the narrator, so it’s hard for the audience to get lost. The tension could be cut with a knife almost throughout the movie. An incredible acting recital. Craig’s investigator removes all memory of Bond and Ana de Armas carries the heart of the entire story on her shoulders. This movie is like a donut with a hole in which there is another donut…with a hole…with a great climax inside. (07/02/2020)

I can't be enthusiastic about it, but for me it's absolutely similar to Murder on the Orient Express. The cast is perfect no doubt about it, Daniel Craig as the detective is decent and Ana de Armas is as always adorable, but it didn't draw me in at all. It's not funny and certainly not entertaining, nothing much actually happens for the two hours, until the final minute twist that saves the whole film to at least average, but by then I was looking forward to getting out of the cinema. Disappointment of the year and Rian Johnson has definitely confirmed that he will never make a film that I will like. 5/10 (19/12/2019)

At times unobtrusively and sophisticatedly funny and cynical, at times thoroughly convoluted and superbly acted. Perhaps only Daniel Craig was irritating with his crazy accent. Apparently they exploit everything that could be exploited from a murder in an opulent mansion. I reckon most of the 40 million-dollar budget went to the cast, because the visuals were very economical, sometimes too much (the car chase). A good one off, but no deal-breaker. (06/04/2020)

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)

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)