Knives Out (2019)

Followed by: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

	Directed by: Rian Johnson	COUNTRY USA GENRE Mystery NORWEGIAN TITLE Knives Out RUNNING TIME 130 minutes
	Produced by: Ram Bergman Rian Johnson
	Written by: Rian Johnson

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Benoit Blanc	Daniel Craig
Hugh Ransom Drysdale	Chris Evans
Marta Cabrera	Ana de Armas
Linda Drysdale	Jamie Lee Curtis	½
Walt Thrombey	Michael Shannon	½
Richard Drysdale	Don Johnson	½
Joni Thrombey	Toni Collette	½
Detective Lieutenant Elliott	LaKeith Stanfield	½
Meg Thrombey	Katherine Langford
Jacob Thrombey	Jaeden Martell	-
Alan Stevens	Frank Oz	-
Donna Thrombey	Riki Lindhome	-
Fran	Edi Patterson	-
Wanetta "Great Nana" Thrombey	K Callan	-
Harlan Thrombey	Christopher Plummer
Mr. Proofroc	M. Emmett Walsh	-

Review

This modern murder mystery in the vein of those classic Agatha Christie stories struck a nerve with audiences and became one of the largest box offices successes over the Christmas period in 2019. And the success was warranted, because Knives Out was indeed a contemporary rarity – a clever, slickly produced entertainment movie for an adult audience. Here was a picture utilizing old-fashioned tropes and storytelling techniques in its unmasked quest to devise a good-old whodunnit. The mystery itself may not be writer/director Rian Johnson's most remarkable accomplishment, but his playful directorial style and narration certainly is. Daniel Craig's creation of the scrupulous, verbose Benoit Blanc sees him far removed from James Bond and may well be his most delightful character, at least on this side of the 007 franchise. There is also a very devoted performance by the talented Ana De Armas as a girl caught in the middle of it all. Followed by a much less fresh and far more contrived sequel called Glass Onion in 2022.