KNIVES OUT

Release Date: Malaysia, 28 Nov 2019

Genre: Thriller

Running Length: 2:00

Cast: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer

Director: Rian Johnson

Screenplay: Rian Johnson

KNIVES OUT is one of the most entertaining, smart and enjoyable films I've seen this year. 

The movie starts off like the board game Cluedo. Harlan Thrombey (Plummer), a renowned and rich crime novelist is found dead in his huge mansion the day after his 85th birthday party. He has invited his dysfunctional family, and there are many of them, to his party. Of course, everyone at the party is a suspect and in comes famous Detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) to investigate this mysterious death. 

And that's all I can say about this movie. Because anything more than that will rob you of your joy in watching this well-written, well-directed and well acted movie. 

The highlight of this movie is Daniel Craig's Blanc. His southern drawl is one of a kind and his method of investigation is refreshing. He is detached from logic and intuition and believes that the evidence will eventually show up. It's nice to see him moving around in a nonchalant laid-back manner, compared to his portrayal of James Bond. 

The other highlight is of course the ensemble cast of calibre actors, with most of them playing against type. You are glued to what's unfolding in front of you because of its sharp dialogue and not because of some car chase action scene. In fact, there is only one car chase scene in the entire movie and the remark at the end of the chase was funny in a self-parody way. 

Go watch this classic whodunnit? murder mystery on the big screen!

RATING: 9/10

HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS (2014)

Genre: Adventure/Drama
Running Length: 1:54
Cast: Simon Pegg, Rosamund Pike, Stellan Skarsgard, Ming Zhao, Barry Atsma, Jean Reno, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer
Director: Peter Chelsom
Screenplay: Maria von Heland and Peter Chelsom & Tinker Lindsay, based on the novel by Fracois Lelord

"We should concern ourselves not so much with the pursuit of happiness but rather with the happiness of pursuit." a quote from this movie. 

Although HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS shares a similar theme as Walter Mitty; a middle-aged man who lives a routine life reaches a mid-life crisis and thus, spurring him to go on an international journey to understand the meaning of life/happiness, this movie goes into darker territory than Mitty ever would have dared venture. Those who are familiar with Simon Pegg's movies may not be totally surprised that he can be taken seriously on screen, but as Hector, his work here is a revelation. There are some funny moments here and there but he generally plays it down - especially the very believable emotional last scene which was truly affecting. Although his search leads him to a mixed bag of adventure, the deliverables to viewers are a little uneven. This is no Indiana Jones or even Tintin. Some encounters worked but most of them felt somewhat cliché. Nevertheless, this film works nicely as a character piece.  

Rating: 6.5/10