Knives Out (2019)

[Cap]

Talk about Rian Johnson's masterpiece here.

[DeeCee]

I forget. 
 

Was Marta from Argentina?

[The Panda]

A brilliant, layered and hilarious parable of the suicide of White America.

 

Cant think of any problems I had with it.  Rian Johnson has done it again!

[The Panda]

3 minutes ago, DeeCee said:

I forget. 
 

Was Marta from Argentina?

Brazil

[ViewerAnon]

Is this the best movie of the year? It might be the best movie of the year. If not, it’s awfully fuckin’ close.

 

Blanc being the antagonist during the middle section of the film is amazing. How brilliant to make me not want the brilliant charming detective to solve the mystery.

[ZackM]

1 hour ago, The Panda said:

Brazil

Na, it was Paraguey.

 

But about the movie...

 

The only thing I didn't love was that the individuals of the family kind of disappear in the 2nd half of the movie and instead appear just as a sort of monolithic entity + Ransom.  And a result we lost some of the infighting that made the 1st half of the movie really endearing.

 

Other than that minor quibble, it was an absolutely wonderful movie.

[Cap]

“I saw it at the Public”

[CloneWars]

A solid movie. I don't have much else to say. I'm not much on murder mysteries, but this was enjoyable.

[Deep Wang]

This wasn't a mystery wrapped in an enigma inside a riddle.  

 

It was a donut with a smaller donut inside it's donut hole.

 

It was also great.

[ZackM]

"I will not eat one iota of shit!"

 

Best line in the movie.

[Nerfy]

This was pretty good. Got a little self-indulgent (and sillly) towards the end though. "Hugh did this" lmao. Overall very entertaining though, and seemed like the sneak audience loved it (uproarious laughter at some points). 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Nerfy

[The Panda]

The poll should be made public so we can see who’s the troll that voted F

 

@captainwondyful

Edited November 25, 2019 by The Panda

[Cap]

It was @shayhiri, so it doesn’t really count. 

[Alpha]

I liked it a lot, but I don't think I'll be able to forgive "Hugh did this". Nope.

 

A-

[DeeCee]

100% on BOT. 

[baumer]

Loved it as well.  It's convoluted, confusing and entertaining as hell.  I love that they kind of reveal in the middle of it who the killer was and still manage to keep you entertained for the rest of the movie.  And Ana de Armas.....my lord....so beautiful.  And I have now forgotten that Rian destroyed Star Wars.  He made a really good film here.

 

8.5/10

[Porthos]

I think this is a film, like most mysteries, that will reward a re-watch.  VERY interested in watching Ana de Armas' and Daniel Craig's characters in the first half of the movie to make sure everything fits, reaction wise.

 

Plot wise, this is a tight film.  Right down to the littlest thing like Harlan not acting like someone in the middle of an OD (which I thought odd at the time) as well as seeding things like inventing plots in an instant.

 

I just want to make absolutely sure de Armas' and Craig's reactions are authentic before the two major reveals before I give a final grade.

[lorddemaxus]

This movie is a masterpiece. Everything's so tightly written and every single line of dialogue is necessary. The way Johnson deals with privilege and also satirizes the whodunnit genre (Daniel Craig with his exaggerated southern accent and shitty analogies had me cracking up everytime) is hilarious.

 

I also wasn't on the Ana de Armas hype before but she does an amazing job here and I guess I've become a fan of hers now. It's also great to see Chris Evans play a character closer to his character in Not Another Teen Movie than Captain America.

 

I loved Parasite and The Irishman but this might be the best film of the year for me. It's also going to be the film I'm going to be rewatching the most.

 

10/10

[Webslinger]

With Knives Out, a contemporary American spin on Agatha Christie murder mysteries, writer-director Rian Johnson delivers one of the most thoroughly entertaining viewing experiences in recent memory. Like Johnson’s other films, it’s brilliantly constructed, keeps viewers on their toes throughout its running time, and arrives at big surprises without feeling like it’s cheating. Johnson has so many impressive accomplishments in Knives Out that it’s tough to pinpoint which one stands tallest. Is it the delightfully clever and layered script? Is it the perfectly cast ensemble, virtually all of whom are firing on all cylinders in every scene? Is it the impressively balanced tone, which allows the film to be laugh-out-loud funny in some scenes while also allowing for gravitas in others? Is it the visual and aural flair on display throughout the running time, indicating that Johnson had just as much fun making this film as viewers do watching it? Or is the well-executed satire that feels as timely as ever despite the irony of occurring in such a seemingly old-fashioned genre? There are so many factors at play in the film’s success and so many balls in the air in its narrative that the fact that it sticks the landing so well feels like a small, delightful miracle. In front of the camera, the biggest standouts in the massive ensemble are Ana de Armas, Daniel Craig, and Chris Evans. As Marta, a Latina nurse whom the family clearly pats themselves on the back for accepting until the madness starts, de Armas does the heaviest lifting of anyone in the cast and gives a winning performance that makes it all too easy to root for her character as more and more secrets come to light. As the brilliant Poirot-like detective, Daniel Craig lets loose and gives a comedic performance that matches up with his inspired work in Logan Lucky two years ago; he sinks his teeth into the scenery and has a great time with the role, though he also carries himself with the requisite wit and acuity to feel completely convincing as a master detective. And Chris Evans returns to his old pre-Captain America typecasting of smarmy, cocky, over-confident jerks, but spins effective nuance into those initially apparent qualities. Are there films this year that have cut deeper and left me with more to ponder than Knives Out? Sure, a few. But I was grinning so hard and found myself so gripped in Knives Out throughout its running time that I feel confident saying that I will not see a more purely enjoyable film among 2019’s crop.

 

A

 

Stray Thoughts:

- No joke: in Noah Segan's first appearance, my first thought was "Hey, the guy from all the Rian Johnson movies!" He's lots of fun here too.

 

- I had no idea until scanning IMDB afterward that Ana de Armas is going to be in the next Bond film. With how well she clicks with Daniel Craig here, I'm looking forward to seeing her in No Time to Die.

[Legion Again]

13 minutes ago, FilmBuff said:

Saw knives out. It was just okayish to me. Murder mysteries aren’t really my cup of tea. I could see the ending coming from a mile away. I’m sure others will like it more than me. My favorite rian Johnson movie is still Looper.

Yeah, this is the biggest issue (not really the right word, but 🤷‍♂️). You can kind of see the big “twists” coming from like 30% into the movie, so it lives on its characters rather than the surprise value. Of course there’s a pretty direct tension between including appropriate foreshadowing and having people figure it out early, vs avoiding good foreshadowing and having it come out of nowhere. It’s definitely better overall to have the conclusion well built up to by clues.

Edited November 30, 2019 by Arendelle Legion