Knives Out (2019)

A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

Director:

Rian Johnson

Writer:

Rian Johnson

Stars:

Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 47 wins & 100 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Daniel Craig	...	Benoit Blanc
Chris Evans	...	Ransom Drysdale
Ana de Armas	...	Marta Cabrera
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Linda Drysdale
Michael Shannon	...	Walt Thrombey
Don Johnson	...	Richard Drysdale
Toni Collette	...	Joni Thrombey
LaKeith Stanfield	...	Lieutenant Elliott
Christopher Plummer	...	Harlan Thrombey
Katherine Langford	...	Meg Thrombey
Jaeden Martell	...	Jacob Thrombey
Riki Lindhome	...	Donna Thrombey
Edi Patterson	...	Fran
Frank Oz	...	Alan Stevens
K Callan	...	Greatnana Wanetta

Storyline

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's disfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.

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Plot Keywords:

private detective | vomiting | whodunit | suspected suicide | murder mystery | 

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Taglines:

A Rian Johnson whodunit.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements including brief violence, some strong language, sexual references, and drug material

Did You Know?

Trivia

A parenteral therapy of 100 mg of ketorolac given to a 85-years-old man for weeks, as Harlan takes in this movie, would be completely off-label and have a significant risk of kidney failure.

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Goofs

There is an entire industry of filing claims against the estates of wealthy individuals such as Harlan Thrombey. Essentially every such estate has claims filed against it for whatever settlement can be gotten. A wealthy family, particularly one like the Thrombeys where everyone was driven by financial self-interest, would immediately recognize that the most likely client to have hired Benoit Blanc would have been someone wanting to extract money from the estate. Hence, none of the family would have consented to Blanc's involvement in the investigation, and would have refused to have any interaction with him.

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Quotes

Linda Drysdale: Were you boinking my father?
Richard Drysdale: Boinking?
Jacob Thrombey: You had sex with my grandfather you dirty anchor baby!

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Crazy Credits

The actors that are seen in the end credits with their names are shown as portraits.

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Connections

Referenced in CTV National News: Episode dated 5 September 2019 (2019)

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Soundtracks

Animal Zoo
Written by Jay Ferguson
Performed by Spirit
Courtesy of Epic Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment

User Reviews

A fun little mystery with a slick pay off

Knives Out (2019) 8/10🗡🚪💉💸

"Rian Johnson successfully revives the "whodunnit" mystery subgenre with this perfectly cast fun time, even if it doesn't bring anything groundbreaking to the table."

Knives Out is the kind of "whodunnit" film that will never fail to entertain. As a progressive mystery, Knives Out is a very fashionable movie with it's grand ensemble of fresh and familiar faces. With some very snarky and slick writing, these characters are albeit memorable, most notably Daniel Craig's Detective Blanc and Chris Evan's Ransome, however, the film fails to make full use of the ensemble to the greatest extent. Of course that never takes away from what else Knives Out has to offer. The intensity of every moment that leaves you questioning the motive and action behind the titled crime scene is delivered with such glorious fashion, one could say Murder on the Orient Express had a beautiful baby, this being the result, showing Rian Johnson's strongholds. While the first two acts of the movie are quite strong and promising, the third act finds itself being a little rough around the edges but manages to find it's footing upon the conclusion; one for all and all for one.

Verdict: Knives Out not only proves to us that Rian Johnson is a strong director with the right material, but also displays a fashionable reiteration of what the mystery genre can do to keep us guessing what is left in store for us to see in all the right ways.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Hindi

Release Date:

27 November 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Morning Bell

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$26,769,548, 1 December 2019

Gross USA:

$165,363,234

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$311,398,301

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Media Rights Capital (MRC), T-Street

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1