Knives Out by Rian Johnson
Well.. it’s hard to go against public opinion but I gotta be honest.
Knives Out is an okay movie. There are so many haters of this film rating it 1-stars just because they don’t like Rian Johnson and what he did to the Star Wars: Last Jedi apparently and a lot of others who rate it 10-stars to revoke the 1-star ratings. But the movie is basically ok. And I’m sad to acknowledge it as I really, really wanted to like it. I mean c’mon look at the cast!
Knives Out is ok for basic entertainment when you don’t have anything else to do and just want to have fun at the movies but it has soooo many plot holes and insults to the viewer that I can’t just close my eyes on them.
You know there’s this saying that if you start explaining the joke then it’s not funny. It’s about this movie exactly! They do so much explaining that your brain hurts. It’s basically an insult because I kinda sat there and felt that there shouldn’t have been so much explaining. I mean sometimes you gotta trust the audience. That they’ll get it. This is either inconfidence in yourself or in the audience. There’s at least like 15 minutes of the movie explaining itself and what’s going on but they could’ve done it in a more subtle way with hints, looks and feels. Not with words. The movie has so many shifts and turns that you kinda look at it funnily. And not only the plot turns but also the movie and genre itself. It’s almost like it’s not as self-aware.
This might be one of the very few times that I’ll say I didn’t like the acting in an American film. They all are great actors and Americans are somehow natural at this but this film didn’t even require a whole lot of range from them. It relies on its script of a “whodunit” and beautiful cinematography and scenery to carry out the film. Actors were acting like in a play or smth. Do you remember those theatrical experience where acting is over-the-top? When it’s just too much? There’s a scene at the end where a man is trying to bribe a policeman by waving money in the air, in front of them, when everybody’s looking. That’s zero subtlety. You feel like you’re getting spoon-fed smth that could’ve been done in a more serious fashion.
Jeremy Jahns has a fantastic review of this film:
“His movies are not as clever as Rian Johnson thinks they are” — Jeremy
When you turn 180 degrees, you’re basically back at the same spot Rian. Quit turning.
It’s a solid OK