"That certainly not what I was expecting."
- Whodunit?
- Rian Johnson.
- Why?
- To subvert the tropes of yet another sub-genre... properly!
As divisive as it was, I neither loved nor hated the love-it-or-hate-it The Last Jedi. Maybe because I'm not a huge fan of the much-beloved saga. But I can give you a quick opinion of what I thought about it anyway. The first half almost turned me off completely: tons of lame jokes and out-of-character moments that indicate that Johnson's biggest concern was to subvert expectations and nothing but. The second half of the film was way better. It proved to me that Johnson is actually very capable of adding fresh blood to the saga, so effortlessly to such an extent that I wondered why he struggled so much in the first half.
In Knives Out, Johnson didn't add a new spin on the 'whodunit' sub-genre of detective fiction; he took it and turned it on its head. He did so not only by playing with the tropes and mechanisms of this sub-genre -and boy, he did that so exquisitely and gracefully- but he also by using a new and very effective building block: Drama. It doesn't sound new, isn't it? But, actually, relying on it here, in this kind of a story, is nothing short of revolutionary, and that's simply lies in the fact it's unprecedented to build upon it here. The result is nothing but marvellous. And although that, at some point, the main concern of the plot wasn't the murder mystery per se, the mystery didn't lose its sharpness even a tiny bit. And that's a strong proof that everything worked, and integrated, seamlessly. I said integrated because the film has a plethora of comedic bits throughout its runtime -which flies by- and, to be honest, I think every single joke landed perfectly. The film also suggest a political agenda that's exquisitely woven into the plot, and provides a sharp social commentary that's impressively subtle.
Not only did Rian Johnson reinvigorate this seemingly outmoded and unfruitful sub-genre, but he also did the same thing with a couple of members of the star-studded cast: I didn't know that Chris Evans, Captain America himself, would be better as, well, an "Anti-Captain America "; Craig as Blanc is absolutely phenomenal, with his southern accent and caricature detective character; and Jaeden Martell (IT) is very interesting as the weirdo Jacob Thrombey. As for Curtis, Langford, Plummer, Collette and Shannon, Johnson makes an excellent use of their incredible acting abilities, and of their facial expressions and features, especially Shannon with his remarkable menacing countenance. The real standout, though, is Ana de Armas. I mean, she was good in Blade Runner 2049, but here, as she plays my new favourite version of Pinocchio, she proves she's an exceptionally talented actress who is capable of expressing emotions, and changing them readily, only with her eyes. Honestly, I think she should have been nominated for an Oscar!
Overall, I'm really surprised how much I loved this film. With Johnson superb and clever direction and meticulously-nuanced and witty -albeit slightly too-structured- screenplay, I think this is my favourite - even if it's not my highest-rated - film of 2019. You know what, this film is actually terrible: it's very pretentious; its puzzle is too convoluted for its own good; it has an overabundance of plot twists; it underutilized its stellar ensemble; and it has a lot of plot holes, or -in this case- donut holes! Excuse me, I gotta leave right now!
(9.5/10)