Whodunnit

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Stars: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom, Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista, plus uncredited appearances of Hollywood stars
Director/Scriptwriter: Rian Johnson
Composer: Nathan Johnson
Cinematography: Steve Yedlin
T-Street/Netflix and movie theaters
Rating: PG 13
Running Length: 140 Minutes

In my 2020 film review of the first “Knives Out” film, I said Agatha Christie would be proud of this film. Box Office thought so, too, and now comes Film Two of what is going to be a series of “Knives Out” mysteries, hopefully, all starring Daniel Craig.  When he left “James Bond,” Craig went from action and beautiful ladies to dry humor and a detective who manages to solve a crime by accident. What a contrast. The character Craig plays in these films is Benoit Blanc and the Blanc could be interpreted as “blank” in that he manages somehow to solve cases in spite of himself. Also, Benoit has a southern accent somewhere between Paris and Alabama.

As the story goes, it is Covid time and Detective Blanc is hired by Helen Brand (Janelle Monae playing dual roles) to find out who killed her sister, Andi.  There had been a business dispute between Andi and her business partner Miles (Edward Norton) about a dangerous product, Klear. Many suspects emerge including business partners, Leslie Odom, Jr., Kathryn Hahn, Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista. Miles decides to have a party on his island in Greece.  Miles is having a Murder Mystery Party in which there will be a “murder” and the guests will solve the crime. However---you guessed it---there is a real murder. As with an Agatha Christie story, all the suspects are there and it is up to the detective to solve the real case. An important clue being a cocktail napkin. There is also something hidden that will surprise everyone.  In the meantime, there are moments of stealth, another murder, and a surprise ending. All tongue-in-cheek, of course.

Director/scripter Rian Johnson, as in the first “Knives” film, just lets his actors do their thing. It must have been fun filming the first movie, and just as much fun in the second one. Everyone does their best, but the stand-outs are Daniel Craig, Janelle Monae and Kate Hudson who plays a model/designer. The film is overly long at 140 minutes and could have been a crisp 120 minutes.

The camera work is well done and music appropriate to what is happening on the screen, which changes literally moment by moment. Nathan Johnson also composed the music for the first “Knives” film. Dialogue is witty and there are so many star walk-ons you would have to have a notebook to keep track, for example, two prominent actors who are no longer with us.  Does that whet your appetite?

Copyright 2022 Marie Asner