Writer/director Rian Johnson follows his KNIVES OUT/’19 success with a second murder mystery for private detective Benoit Blanc. Bigger, if not better (the sole improvement sees Daniel Craig firming up that wayward Southern accent), the general effect like getting a free upgrade from Coach to First Class only to find yourself stuck in a world of entitled a-holes obnoxious enough to make you prefer Coach’s lack of leg-room, squalling kids & stained cushions. (On the other hand . . . Free Drinks!) Lightly suggested by Agatha Christies’s A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED/’85 and the puzzle-mad LAST OF SHEILA/’73 (note cameo from SHEILA’s co-scripter Stephen Sondheim), here Master-of-the-Universe tech whiz Edward Norton invites a gaggle of old pals to his spectacular island retreat for a wknd game of ‘murder,’ only to find any ‘quotation’ marks dispensed with when one of the guests really dies. Yikes! Dropping clues like Hansel & Gretel drop bread crumbs in the forest, Johnson then doubles back to highlight anything we might have missed with re-enactments from revealing angles. (More overheard secrets than you’d get in a Georges Feydeau triple-bill.) But the fun feels forced, missing the sense of relief generated in KNIVES OUT. How much nicer to have stayed home with Craig’s surprise life-partner Hugh Grant. Maybe a third outing will see this pair go all Nick & Nora Charles on us . . . in Business Class.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: As mentioned, A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED; THE LAST OF SHEILA. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-last-of-sheila-1973.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2015/10/agatha-christies-miss-marple-1984-92.html OR: KNIVES OUT: https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2020/01/knives-out-2019.html
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