I caught Knives Out during the weekend with Missus. We found it thoroughly entertaining, and an iPhone age update, but also a throwback to classic Christie whodunits, complete with the imposing mansion, a dead geriatric multi-millionaire, the usual assortment of idiosyncratic family members and backhanded political commentary.
I have always enjoyed Rian Johnson movies going back to Brick where he combined a murder-mystery and film noir in a high school setting. Knives Out is a thematic exploration of those concepts in the hands of the now more-assured director. This WSJ Knives Out’ Review: The Giddy Pleasures of Virtuosity nicely highlights the film’s old fashioned pleasures: ensemble cast and wonderful acting (esp. Ana de Armas), the tongue-in-cheek self-awareness (e.g., Foghorn Leghorn, Sondheim references) in writing, dissection of social class, the miscues and clues all enveloped in pleasing cinematography.
I chuckled when Thomas Pynchon and Gravity’s Rainbow came up. The gentleman sleuth’s joke is very true. Like almost everyone I know, I have not read the book. So far, I have only managed The Crying of Lot 49 and V. and that’s about it. Distinct pleasures and frustrating complexities of Thomas Pynchon still remain to be discovered.
If you liked Knives Out, you might enjoy Clue and Gosford Park.