Review of Knives Out (2019) by Brent_Marchant — 01 Dec 2019

Despite a number of fine supporting performances (especially Jamie Lee Curtis and Toni Collette) and excellent production values, this overlong, overwritten whodunnit grows tiresome as it goes along, especially in its extended concluding big reveal sequence (at which point you might not really care what the answer is).

As a film that seeks to be both funny and compelling, it often seems to try too hard to be what it aspires to be, carrying an air of smugness about itself as it does so. What's more, a number of characters are seriously underused, and the script for what should be a timeless sort of tale is tarnished by discussions of contemporary topics that ground it in the present, diluting what should be one of the picture's chief defining characteristics.

But the biggest issue is a big, gaping, vacuous question that's left unresolved at film's end, one that's sure to leave astute viewers scratching their heads. While the end product is far from awful, it certainly could have been a lot better.

Wait for home media on this one.