Dec 24

Dec 24 Knives Out (2019)

Writer-director Rian Johnson’s star-studded whodunnit plays out like a throwback to an Agatha Christie mystery, with Daniel Craig effectively portraying Benoit Blanc, Mr. Johnson’s American counterpart to Ms. Christie’s venerable Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. The characters are developed quickly, but then unfortunately abandoned in service to the intricate plot, which comes off as clever, though not quite brilliant. Ana de Armas stands out as the caregiver to Christopher Plummer’s elder statesman, and her performance anchors the story. Fun, but not as much fun as it could have been.