A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.
Chuck says:
Writer/director Rian Johnson’s send-up of drawing room murder mysteries is a parody of the form as well as a crackling example of it. Eccentric Southern detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is called in to investigate the death of mystery writer Harlan Thromby (Christopher Plummer) and there’s no shortage of suspects as every member in his family has a reason to want him gone. The twists and turns are numerous, but Johnson has his tongue planted firmly in cheek as he jerks the audience back and forth from one suspect to the next. It’s obvious the veteran cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Colette, Chris Evans and Michael Shannon are all having a grand time, sending up the archetypes they’ve been handed. Funny and smart, this is one of the wittiest and most entertaining films of the year.
