Movie Review: Knives Out (2019)

Good day to everyone!

I hope that you are all staying safe and healthy! Today I am going to review for you the latest movie that I saw in the theater, and that was back in January. I love mysteries and this one was a fun time. I hope that you enjoy this review!

My guarantee: On ALL of my reviews there are NO spoilers unless I give you warning. This is spoiler free!


Knives Out (2019):

"The guy practically lives in a Clue board."
The famous detective Benoit Blanc is hired by an anonymous person to further investigate the suicide of the 85 year old mystery writer Harlan Thrombey. He finds that Harlan's family aren't telling him everything and tension grows as Harlan's will is going to be read. He finds himself in a mystery equal to the ones the man used to write, but is there a solution?
"I keep waiting for the big reveal."

Genre: Mystery, Crime, Drama.
Length: approx. 131 minutes.
Costumes: 8, just usual clothing.
Script: 5, so there was a lot of swearing. There are quite a few arguments where people yell bad words. One insult that I thought was hilarious was "Weak sauce."
Crew:
Directed by: Rian Johnson.
Written by: Rian Johnson.
Starring:
Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc.

Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey. "You had to find a game to play with him."

Michael Shannon as Walt Thrombey.
Riki Lindhome as Donna Thrombey.
Jaeden Martell as Jacob Thrombey.

Toni Collette as Joni Thrombey.

Katherine Langford as Meg Thrombey.

Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda Drysdale.
Don Johnson as Richard Drysdale.
Chris Evans as Ransom Drysdale.
Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera.
Edi Patterson as Fran.
K Callan as Greatnana Wanetta.
Noah Segan as Trooper Wagner.
LaKeith Stanfield as Lieutenant Elliott.
Frank Oz as Alan Stevens.
Cinematography: 10, I'm going to give it a 10 because it was really cool to me. Most movies I think about the cinematography afterwards and say, "Eh, it was the normal." But it is rare that I find a movie where while watching it I think, "Wow! This is so neat!" Yep, those stick with me and this did exactly that. I love the aesthetic that goes with it and from the first it pulled me in.
Cinematography by: Steve Yedlin.

Music: 9, this music, like the cinematography, helped get me hooked! My first comment to my sister who went with me was "Creepy music!" (and that was a compliment). The score has a great amount of mystery, tension, and surprise, while being a little spooky at times.
Music by: Nathan Johnson.
"Physical evidence can tell a clear story with a forked tongue."
Quotes: 7, okay, so the reason that this has a lower rating is because of this one time where the dialogue was trying to sound really cool, but it didn't work and was hilarious to me.
It's when Jodi asks Benoit, "Do you suspect foul play?" There is a pause, then he replies, "I suspect foul play." She literally just asked you that, you could have just answered yes. Or, she could have asked, "Do you think something's wrong?" then he could have been all dramatic with the answer. Usually I'm not this picky, so I was surprised that I noticed this. Other than that, my sister and I quote this a lot, but I can't put most of them here because they are spoilers.
Oscars won: It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and I thought it was going to win because to me it was more complicated than another mystery Gosford Park (2001) which won the award in 2001, but it didn't.
Content: 6, it is a mystery involving death and some violence, scary scenes, along with a lot of smoking. Another thing is that one character vomits a few times, so there are several disgusting times. There are also one or two suggestive and racist comments.

Source

Originality: 8, this was an epic mystery. The way it was told was so great, I can't recall seeing anything like it! But, one note is about a name. When my sisters and I were little my mom would sometimes read us Choose Your Own Adventure stories, and our favorite was Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey? - by Edward Packard. When we heard about this movie for the first time, we immediately thought of this book. This movie is a mystery about a man who has died named Harlan Thrombey. I don't think that you can get much closer than that! While it is pitched as an original story and I really liked it, I'm suspicious about the coincidence.

Good For: Mystery fans!
Age Range: It's rated PG-13 and I agree with that just because of what the language and content that I mentioned. As always, it depends on each person's comfort level.
Overall Score: 8!
"Close the book with a flourish."
Bonus thoughts:
I went to see this because of the great cast and director Rian Johnson (who directed one of my favorite STAR WARS movies, The Last Jedi (2017)), and came out really impressed. My older sister and I had talked about what we thought was going to happen but we weren't ready for this. Ah, it was so good! I mean, my only problem with it was all the bad words and smoking, but other than that it is one of my favorite mysteries because while it is a fun time and complicated, it also has a great message.
I'd never seen Daniel Craig in anything, but he did such a great job, I totally wasn't expecting it. And, he pulled off a southern accent!

I need to talk about Marta. She is now one of my favorite fictional characters! She is so sweet, kind, honest, and great. If nothing else that I have said has convinced you, you should all watch this for her.



Thanks for reading this far! Now I need to know if any of you have seen this! What are your thoughts? If you haven't, does this look interesting to you now? Stay safe everyone! And, Happy Mother's Day!

MovieCritic