A few years ago, it seemed like Daniel Craig
was certain to be remembered as a guy who played James Bond. Maybe that
still holds, but a couple more of these films—we're at three as of this
writing—and it may no longer be a sure thing. His Benoit Blanc is
arguably a more memorable character, and you can’t deny that it is a
persona that is truly Craig’s own, rather than a borrowed or inherited
legacy. It helps, too, that these Knives Out movies are good,
entertaining, fun and funny, and blessed with a lot of current (at least)
cultural currency. In this edition, the story works well, and the cast
and setting have plenty of interesting facets (though here the collected
characters border on caricature). The fly in this ointment lies in the
focus on—and critique of—the ultra rich and their natures. The view has
merit and the parody pulls few punches, but it means spending a lot of
time with some really unpleasant characters, even if just
representations thereof. That aspect of the story does get a bit
distracting, one might say…though one can argue the critique is not so
much a distraction as the point of the presentation in the first place. I
guess it depends on how much you care about the mystery aspect of a
mystery, versus character, setting and mood. Me, I’m not so much on
the whodunnit angle, so my viewing mind tends to shift towards the other
story elements. It works here, though I’m not sure it would in every
story. As it is, you can just focus on Craig and let him be your guide
to a decent way to kill a couple of hours. I guess this movie doesn’t
exactly shatter any expectations, but the fact that it works overall is
crystal clear.
