This movie focuses on a very colorful family as they deal with the unexpected death of their father. While the cause of death was initially ruled a suicide, the police still have some questions and doubts. This is furthered by the mysterious private detective, played by Daniel Craig with an absurd and over the top Southern accent. Use less than conventional techniques, he attempts to get to the bottom of the mysterious death while simultaneously trying to figure out who in the world hired him in the first place.
While Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) attempts to figure out if Harlan Thrombey committed suicide or was murdered with the help of two local detectives who are convinced it was an act of suicide, the family tries to deal with each other. You have Ransom (Chris Evans), the black sheep of the family; Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), who is strung way too tight; Walt (Michael Shannon), who takes care of his father's publishing company; and Marta (Ana de Armas), Harlan's nurse who loved him more than anyone in his family. This doesn't include rebellious Meg and far right extremist Jacob, who were Harlan's grandchildren. It certainly made for a colorful family gathering to say the least.
The cast is a whose who, including the aforementioned Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer and Michael Shannon, just to name a few. While I thought all the actors did brilliant jobs, I definitely enjoyed Chris Evans' performance was probably my favorite. I think a lot of this came from the fact that it was such a huge diversion from Captain America, who he had been playing for seven years. Ransom was vulgar, self-righteous and self-centered, everything Steve Rogers/Captain America is not. I also greatly enjoyed Christopher Plummer's performance, although it's hard to find a movie he's not good in. He really tied everything together and brought Harlan Thrombey to life in the most spectacular way.
Okay, now I want to talk about the plot in a little more detail, but it's hard to do that without spoilers. So, if you haven't seen the movie yet or want to avoid spoilers, this is probably where you should stop for now. Please make sure to come back once you've seen the movie.
First and foremost, I definitely didn't expect to find out who "killed" Harlan so early on. I expected the movie to focus more on who killed Harlan, not part of the cast trying to figure out who did it while the other part tries to hide the crime. I also hated the fact that Marta thought she was the one who killed Harlan, I felt awful for her, especially given the fact that she was the only one who really seemed to care about him as a person, not for his money. This is only compounded by the fact that Harlan actually wasn't going to die because Ransom switched the medicine, so had they called 9-1-1 like Marta wanted, he would have lived, and his family would have stayed away, at least for a little bit longer. Personally, I think that made matters worse for Marta, who should have just followed her instincts and called for help in the first place.
From the beginning, Bryan and I thought Harlan switched the medication and wanted to commit suicide. After thinking about it, though, I can't imagine he would have done that to Marta, who he obviously cared about deeply since he left all his money, his estate and publishing rights to her. The fact that he was able to come up with a plan to cover up his suicide at the drop of a hat. Of course, he is a murder mystery writer, but still, it was like he had given this some thought before. I found that incredibly strange, which was why I thought Harlan planned this from the very beginning.
Overall, I found this movie pretty good. Bryan liked it more than Star Wars, but I liked Star Wars more. I think a lot of this came from the fact that I expected more of a traditional "whodunit", while Bryan didn't have a lot of preconceived notions. The movie was definitely entertaining, and I liked it, I just wasn't in love with it. I'd probably give it about a seven out of ten. It's worth seeing though, and is definitely entertaining.
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