Knives Out (2019)

It isn’t often that I get to write a review for a film that is yet to be released, but when it does happen, I take the responsibility very seriously. I will thus do my best to review this film without giving too much away, particularly as the film is a mystery, or a whodunnit, and any spoilers would ruin your potential enjoyment of the film as a whole.

Family patriarch Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in his study the morning after his 85th birthday. The family believe it to be an open-and-shut case of suicide, though investigators believe there may be more to the story.

Harlan was one of the most successful mystery writers in the world, having sold millions of books in numerous languages, and he had amassed quite a fortune, which the entire family are all waiting eagerly for their share of at the reading of the will.

Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer), flanked by daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and son-in-law Richard (Don Johnson).

But private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) has been hired - anonymously - to investigate the death. He shows up at the family home - a huge mansion in the country - along with Lieutenant Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield) and Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan) and questions each of the family, including the staff, to try to get to the bottom of Harlan’s death, which brings up more questions than answers.

From daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her husband Richard (Don Johnson), and their son Ransom (Chris Evans) to son Walter (Michael Shannon) and daughter-in-law - married to Harlan’s late son - Joni (Toni Collette), and Harlan’s personal nurse Marta (Ana de Armas) and even the housekeeper, absolutely everyone is under suspicion.

I really mustn’t say more than that, as even the smallest additional comment on the plot or the characters would reveal too much. However, there are plenty of things I can discuss.

Ransom (Chris Evans).

The screenplay, written by director Rian Johnson, is absolutely brilliant, filled with twists and turns galore to keep you guessing right up to the very end. The dialogue is very clever, and the film’s conclusion so ingenious, it will surely leave you very satisfied. Every character is very well-defined, with plenty of backstory, and so many internal and external conflicts. The script is also peppered with plenty of humour, and it is humour of the clever, intelligent variety, rather than a humour that panders to the lowest common denominator.

Nathan Johnson’s score is equally exceptional, right from the very first note - strings playing in a minor key as the mansion looms in the background - through to the end. The film feels at no point overscored, but rather, the music just seems to fit each and every moment in which it is used.

The film’s cinematography is, in a word, stunning. The use of light and dark, and the contrast thereof, is the work of cinematographer Steve Yedlin. Yedlin seems to have an amazing eye for framing and shot composition as well as lighting, and the film is visually breathtaking from the first frame to the last.

Private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig).

David Crank’s production design is fantastic, with all the sets and locations transporting the audience right into the middle of the film’s world. Every single part of the sets and locations feels as though it has been pored over in incredible detail, but at the same time, feels so right as to seem purely natural, the true mark of a brilliant designer.

The performances of the entire cast are also fabulous, with clear standouts being Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. Oh, and Daniel Craig is exceptional as Blanc; his vocal work being one of the more impressive parts of his character. It doesn’t feel right singling out these three performers, as absolutely everyone is brilliant in their respective roles, but it is these three who I feel give something we haven’t seen from each of them before.

Director Rian Johnson has made one of the year’s cleverest films with this offering, one I would be glad to see again (even if it meant paying full price admission). You absolutely must see this film, preferably on the big screen with a large audience; you will definitely thank me for it.

10 out of 10.

(Knives Out opens in theatres later this week. Check your local guides for more information).

Up (2009)

As children, Carl and Ellie meet and bond over their love of explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), whose most famous expedition was to Paradise Falls in South America.

Carl and Ellie pledge to each other that they will one day go to Paradise Falls, and meet the great Muntz in person.

Staying together for their entire lives, until Ellie passes away, they sadly never make good on that pledge, and Carl (now elderly, voiced by Edward Asner) lives alone in the same house they moved into together when they got married.

But all around him, the world is changing. A property developer wants to build apartments, and continually pesters Carl to sell him his property too, as it stands right in the middle of where he is already building.

Carl is stubborn, however, and refuses to budge; this house is all he has left to remember the many good times he had with his wife.

After an altercation with the construction workers, Carl is about to be admitted to Shady Oaks Retirement Village. But when staff turn up to escort him to his new home, he has other ideas.

Tying hundreds of helium-filled balloons to the top of his house, he lifts right off the ground, and begins his promised journey to Paradise Falls.

It isn’t until he gets hundreds of feet into the air that he discovers he has a ‘stowaway’ on his porch: Junior Wilderness Explorer (basically a Boy Scout) Russell (Jordan Nagai), who only needs one more badge to become a Senior Wilderness Explorer: his ‘Assisting the Elderly’ badge.

So the two of them adventure together to South America, Russell hoping to get his final badge and Carl hoping to settle down in the place he and Ellie had always wanted to visit.

As I’m sure I’ve said numerous times now, there is just something so wonderful about Pixar films, and this one is no exception.

Written by Pete Docter & Bob Peterson, the script is funny, clever, heartbreaking, tender, and so many other great adjectives. It may not be Pixar’s best film to date, but it is still a good one.

Docter and Peterson also directed the film together, and it is just as wonderful as any other Pixar film, as I’ve already said. The characters are all clearly defined, and the love between Carl and Ellie is just as strong and motivating a force as the frustration Carl has with Russell.

The plot is incredibly inventive (I mean, whoever thought it was possible to fly your entire house to South America using balloons?) but within the confines of the film, it feels perfectly normal and acceptable.

The voice cast are all fantastic. I’m sure this is one of the most fun parts of an animated film for the directors: choosing actors whose voices will best capture the particular nuances of character you’re going for. It’s impossible now to imagine these characters being voiced by anybody else, as it is the voices themselves that make and define the characters.

But what I want to focus on the most in this review is the music. Michael Giacchino’s score is absolutely superb, and an opportunity for anyone studying film scoring technique to learn some of the greatest lessons, more informative than anything a traditional class environment could teach you.

Giacchino has written a theme - a leitmotif - to represent Carl and Ellie’s relationship, and this theme recurs many times throughout the film. Each time it appears, the instrumentation is different. Occasionally the tempo varies. Sometimes the key centre changes, sometimes the mode changes, but each time, it is the ‘same’ theme.

This serves to unite the entire film as one story: the story of Carl and Ellie, even though Ellie is not physically present for the majority of the film. But the way the music is used like this is just beautiful, and even if the audience only realises it unconsciously, Ellie is as much a part of this film (as a whole) as any of the other characters, if not more so.

As I’ve already mentioned, this may not be Pixar’s best film overall. But it does have the best music of any Pixar film to date.

8 out of 10.