Review of Knives Out

Knives Out (2019)
6/10
Kind of overrated to me
30 November 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I have read the many glowing reviews for this film and I honestly don't get it. Yes, there were some very funny and entertaining parts. It was a very good ensemble cast. Daneil Craig does his best Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood impression. But beyond that, I found the cast woefully underused. Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson etc. I expected Jamie Lee to play a major role but she seemed more like window dressing. She also, as the daughter, appeared to have no real motive for the murder. So the real crime here was her underuse. 1/2 of the members of the family had no motive mentioned. Then, when the "murder" was revealed at the half way point, it was clear Martha did not really do it and was being set up. Chris Evans conveniently shows up at the halfway point with lines, so the reveal, for the most part is painfuly obvious, or at least most of it. The give-aways were pretty obvious, like granny saying "Random, you're back AGAIN" or the comment on how the dogs barked only with certain people. The mention of the "slayer" law was very, very obvious. I understand this is a parody of the sleuth genre but shouldn't there be at least some surprises?

Nor do I believe this is a "commentary" on our situation today. Yes, there was a dialogue thrown in on immigration but nothing new was covered here.

That is not to say it is a bad film. Daniel Craig and the cast seemed to be having a ball. Lots of kooky things happened. But I think this is better for a late-nite Netflix watch.

I certainly don't see it as being "best of the year."
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