Knives Out

The short review: yes, you absolutely must see this, especially if you are fan of Agatha Christie, big house mysteries, fantastic set decor, southern accents, Chekhov's gun, crazy families, donut holes, and whodunits that keep you guessing until the end.

Someone asked us, "Does this movie have any sympathetic characters who end up happy, or is it blistering satire all the way through?" The answer is that the movie works because of one good character, pure of heart and motivation: Marta, the young nurse of the murder victim, mystery author Harlan Thrombey. In a houseful of oddballs and egomanics, she's the only one who cares about something other than her own skin -- although her efforts to save her skin drive most of the plot to delightful effect. And Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), to my surprise, was not the sumbitch paterfamilias of a Christie mystery, but a genuinely interesting and careful patriarch. 

Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, the private inspector with the deep-fried accent, has the most glorious movie detective monologue I've ever heard. If there is any justice in the world, suits at major studios are even now begging director Rian Johnson to develop a Knives Out franchise with Blanc's further exploits.

(For the parents out there wondering: we took our 13, 11, and 9yos and had a fantastic time. I don't know others' tolerance for profanity and mild violence, but this fell within our own family's parameters. Of more concern to me personally were two passing jokey (and inaccurate) accusations of masturbation, but they went over my kids' heads.)