Writer/director Rian Johnson has delivered a corker of a whodunit that should attract large audiences over the festive period. On the evening of his 85th birthday, Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) appears to commit suicide. But when private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) arrives to investigate, after being hired anonymously, it looks like there may have been foul play. As Blanc interviews the myriad of family members, he enlists the help of Harlan’s nurse Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), but is she as innocent as she seems…?
When making the film, Johnson made public the films that he was drawing inspiration from, including the Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot big screen films, ‘Murder By Death’, and, pleasingly, the bafflingly overlooked ‘The Last of Sheila’. Those influences are pretty clear in the finished movie. We have an all star cast – including Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon and Chris Evans – clearly having a great time. We see the same events from different perspectives as the family members explain their movements on the night and the resulting twists and red herrings come thick and fast. We also have real laughs, mostly at the expense of the more entitled family members, and a nice critique of the current political situation in America.
Craig relishes his role magnificently. He takes his accent from ‘Logan Lucky’ and ratchets if up a notch. If he is really done with Bond after next year’s ‘No Time to Die’, then maybe a new franchise beckons with this role! de Armas is also really good as the emotional centre of the movie, and Curtis is the most eye catching of the supporting cast.
Heartily recommended.
Rating: 9 out of 10