I almost always say that "finally I watch this or that movie" as if it's been withheld from me, which isn't true of course, I'm a big person of a mood and I need the right mood to watch something I haven't watched before, sometimes it's truly detrimental, the process is easier, I'm mentally ready to enjoy (or not).
So this phrase will resurface again, finally I watched Knives Out.
And what a delight it was. I had no idea that the role of a private detective would suit Daniel Craig so much.
Usually, I have only a gist of what is going to happen in the movie, like for example I might have watched (I definitely did with this one) the trailer. Yes, watched it back in the year it was released and five years later we're here again ahaha what a delay. But my point is I had no idea it will be like a detective story but with strong black humor, yet not without a human touch. This is what buys me with such movies, have a little human story to make it a finishing touch and not a simple investigation.
The family of Harlan Thrombey, a wealthy mystery novelist, attends his 85th birthday party at his Massachusetts mansion. The next morning, Harlan's housekeeper, Fran, discovers him dead with a slit throat. The police believe Harlan died by suicide, but private detective Benoit Blanc is anonymously hired to investigate. Blanc learns that Harlan had strained relationships with his family members, giving several of them possible motives for murder. (Wiki)
To be honest, what a way to start the movie, it actually doesn't sound anything spectacular, but the wonderful work of the director and screenwriter used the opening scenes to allow us see through lies of all family members. Classic move to make the entire family the suspect for everyone, especially the viewer.
But who knew so much more happened on that fateful night.
I would totally agree with Blanc's almost absurd phrase "a donut hole in a donut hole", because the investigation process spirals to a new level again and again. The wonderful combination of plotting and accidents and opportunism that build up the storyline. I think I totally agree with those who regard this movie highly. The director paid a lot of attention to simple details, but even if they were simple, but they created the experience. Even the menacing knives installation was used eventually, I was happy to know that it was. It is like Chekhov's gun rule, if you can see the gun hanging in the first act, then in the second act it will be used, things appear for a reason, not only to look stylish on the screen.
Well, and of course bravo to Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas, wonderful to see them act outside of Bond ahaha. And of course it's always a delight to see Jamie Lee Curtis.
This is the type of movie that is best not to spoil, but watch for yourself. I did it rather late, but as they say "it's better later than never" :)
The donut hole :D
Like what did Benoit mean when he compared this case to a donut even. And I really like how Rian Johnson played with the plot reveals and characters to mislead you. And many of the things are in details, but they are shown in such order that you first see the clue and it appears only later and you realize - oh, there was such a clue.
Rewinding back to the beginning. The interrogation.
As a viewer we know that all family member lied in one way or another with one person absent and discussed by others. Their motives are not strong enough to commit murder, but you can say they're bordering and endanger livelihood of those members and who knows what people can do. But throughout the movie they act too much like a pack, with an exception of one member.
Seemingly there is no place for murder and there is none, but this suicide isn't a simple one either, because it's a well-thought plan by Harlan himself. And it all spirals out of control due to the wrong medicine.
And here is where human touch comes in. All of Harlan's children are now adults and can take care of themselves, but he is also disappointed in all of them. But among them Marta, who is his nurse, becomes his close friends. It's a very cliche thing to leave inheritance to the one least expecting it. But the moment she realized her mistake she started to search for the antidote, which surprisingly wasn't in her medical kit, which should have been there. Although Marta is panicky and Harlan starts thinking how to deal with the situation, we as viewers feel something fishy about it.
The consequent actions are all Harlan's idea, so Marta will have an alibi and knowing that he has only few minutes before morphine kicks in, he does commit suicide, but with a witness and that is Marta. Because there is nothing else to do she only can stick to the plan and met with unexpected troubles (like a wooden decoration chips off or she parked where the video camera can see her). So it's kinda funny how she tried to destroy evidence.
Of course she doesn't share it with the police.
But she shares it with another person, the one mostly absent during the evening and even the funeral - Ransom. But one who helped her get away from the family when Harlan's will was announced. She as an honest person did not feel right taking the inheritance, but I so liked the simple idea of the plan of depriving her of it.
So here comes the donut hole in a donut hole. And I think it's a fantastic way of collecting together wit and opportunism.
At the final scene where Benoit stops Marta from publicly admitting to her medical mistake he starts to unspiral what actually happened and we're back to switched medicine.
Initially you can get the idea that the medicine was switched for the sake of Marta giving Harlan a shot and later he'd be gone in ten minutes, but this plan did not work since Marta took the right medicine, but it was the wrong label. She did those shots a hundred times, so she can tell the little difference between medicine, so she took the right medicine, but noticed it had a label morphine, meaning she injected a critical dose. Again the antidote was absent and it was indeed taken away. The true perpetrator did not consider Marta panicking and Harlan craftin a plan. But the one who switched medicines, Ransom, put everything back. Yet was noticed. To make the plan of framing Marta perfect the blood samples, along with the laboratory, were burned down, he even sent blackmailing letter to Marta and even Fran who seemed to be blackmailing Marta, but actually had a meeting with Ransom first, had a critical dose of morphine injected. But what Ransom didn't expect was that at the critical moment Marta chose to save life. But there is one thing left - Marta's righteousness. Because she felt it was wrong for her to inherit she wanted to confess injecting the wrong medicine and it would deprive her of all the money and the house, because she would confess in front of many witnesses who would bite into this confession till the last second. And here is where Benoit interrupts Marta and explains that all previous events had an underlying layer to them. That Ransom switched medicines and took the antidote, that he listened to her confession and crafted a consequent plan, sent her his own blackmailing letter to make her feel guilty, destroying laboratory and evidence, making her think that she's at fault and must confess, injecting Fran with morphine to frame Marta and even waiting for the last step, but failed. And without her confession everything will return to how it was supposed to be - a simple suicide, because unfortunately Marta never made the mistake, she only thought she did and Harlan did commit suicide and had no life-threatening substances in his blood. Even if it's sad to know that if Harlan agreed to Marta's call for emergency he'd still be alive.
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