[Rating: Rock Fist Way Up]
In Select Theaters November 26; On Netflix December 12
A murder mystery whodunnit shouldn’t be this funny…but it is. In just six years, Rian Johnson shouldn’t be able to write 3 movies and 22 (‘Poker Face”) episodes of complex, intricate, well-considered detective stories and still keep things this fresh…but he does. And audiences shouldn’t be as lucky as this, repeatedly getting ensemble casts with more awards season hardware than a Home Depot in vehicles that put their considerable talents to efficient, delightful use…but we do.
And thank God for that, because Johnson has done it again with Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, subverting genre expectations with one hand while examining the sociopolitical landscape of its setting with the other. Deploying his characters like chess pieces across the board of his narrative, the writer/director manipulates tropes and archetypes as always, but still manages to keep the audience on their heels until the third act’s big reveal: the favorite part of any mystery for Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig).
The story unfolds through a letter written by a young priest, Father Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor), to Blanc. Fr. Jud explains that some weeks before he joined the ministry of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin) in rural New York’s parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Fortitude. Although Fr. Jud is very much a New Testament guy that embraces compassion and fellowship, Mons. Wicks is more Old Testament, preaching an aggressive and confrontational version of Christ’s message.
This twisted reading of the gospel and posture has thinned the flock at the parish to a sparse but dedicated cadre that includes novelist Lee Ross (Andrew Scott), groundskeeper Samson Holt (Thomas Haden Church), town doctor Nat Sharp (Jeremy Renner), attorney Vera Draven (Kerry Washington), political firebrand/influencer Cy Draven (Daryl McCormack), concert cellist Simone Vivane (Cailee Spaeny), and devout church employee Martha Delacroix (Glenn Close). As is always the case in a Knives Out picture, there’s a murder, and it falls to local police Chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) to call in world-famous sleuth Benoit Blanc to untangle the seemingly impossible crime.
Johnson takes his time introducing all of the characters to give each of them motive (if not opportunity), making for a delicious little mystery whose foundation keeps shifting under the feet of the main characters (and audience) with each passing development. The original 2019 installment drilled into class by examining the dichotomy between the privileged Thrombey clan and nurse Marta, while Glass Onion shifted ever so slightly to examine ideas about fame and public status in a COVID setting. Wake Up Dead Man adds yet another layer to this conversation by incorporating concepts about religion and myth making, once again pinning these ideas on the current sociopolitical landscape where the movie finds itself arriving.
As with the earlier installments, a big piece of what makes this movie so enjoyable and rewarding is the meticulous way Johnson puts it all together, planting lines and glances that come back into play later, often during an ah-ha moment that brings several things into focus. Now three movies in, Johnson also knows that audiences are looking for these very same clues, yet his script remains as sharp as ever, and even deploys a few red herrings to keep the more ravenous viewers off the scent.
And while it’s all centered on a murder, the guiding principle of this installment, as with the last two, is joy: both for the audience and Blanc. This starts with Craig, who appears to be having more fun in five minutes here than in all the time he played James Bond. Careful never to suck all the oxygen out of a scene, but rather to glide in and out of them for just the right amount of seasoning and flair, he has found a rhythm to the Blanc character that almost makes the performance more of a dance than a “portrayal.”
Craig has considerable help, however, as Wake Up Dead Man must sustain itself through most of its first act without him. Brolin and O’Connor are more than up to the task, with Brolin in particular taking the time to relish and sink his teeth into the Mons. Wicks character. Besides Brolin and Craig, though, it is Close who serves as the film’s MVP and most arresting presence on-screen, and it’s her turn as the pious yet tortured parish matron that makes the movie sing.
Johnson assures his actors have a handsome movie to do their crooning in, too, bringing Southern Gothic vibes into the New England-adjacent setting. Colors are reserved for the robes and vestments of the clergy, with muted grey/blue/black color schemes defining the look of those not in that clique. The long shadows and evening lighting set-ups are more than just atmosphere and window dressing here, too, and Johnson never misses an opportunity to make these shadows part of the mystery.
At 144 minutes, Wake Up Dead Man requires an extended period of focused attention, which may tax more impatient audience members used to the tidy/sterile Branagh/Poirot formula. Just try to find an actor in one of those movies that’s having as much fun as the cast in Johnson’s trilogy, however: this third installment being no exception. Because as much fun as it is to watch these Knives Out movies, it appears endlessly more enjoyable to make them, and by all accounts motion picture filmmaking shouldn’t be this easy to produce and consume…but it is.
“Obvious Child” is the debut novel of Warren Cantrell, a film and music critic based out of Seattle, Washington. Mr. Cantrell has covered the Sundance and Seattle International Film Festivals, and provides regular dispatches for Scene-Stealers and The Playlist. Warren holds a B.A. and M.A. in History, and his hobbies include bourbon drinking, novel writing, and full-contact kickboxing.
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