I grew up enjoying those Agatha Christie murder mystery movies like "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974 and 2017) and "Death on the Nile" (1978) and other similar themed films, like "Last of Sheila" (1973), "Clue" (1985), "Gosford Park" (2001) and even "Murder Mystery" (2019). The elements of the plot are generally similar. Someone is murdered in a confined place. Everyone there had a credible motive, so whodunit?
Millionaire mystery writer Harlan Thrombey gathered his family in his remote mansion to celebrate his 85th birthday. In attendance were his centenarian mother Wanetta, eldest daughter Linda (with her husband Richard Drysdale and son Hugh Ransom), son Walter (his wife Donna and son Jacob) and daughter-in-law Joni (with her daughter Meg). His personal nurse Marta Cabrera was also on hand to give him his nightly injections of ketorolac (given at a very high dose of 100 mg - - a glaring medical goof) and morphine.
The morning after the party, the housekeeper Fran discovered Harlan dead in his room with his neck slit. Aside from the local police, famous private detective Benoit Blanc had also been anonymously hired to investigate the case. While the initial cause of death was thought to be suicide, personal motives for wanting to kill Harlan among the family members crop up under questioning. After Harlan's will was read, the shocking provision of the will caused the tension of the situation to go into full chaos.
Daniel Craig played the Hercule Poirot-inspired private eye Benoit Blanc tongue-in-cheek with that affected Southern drawl, probably distinguish this character from his more famous character James Bond. Every actor in the all-star cast -- Jamie Lee Curtis (as Linda), Don Johnson (as Richard), Chris Evans (as Ransom), Michael Shannon (as Walt), Toni Collette (as Joni) and Christopher Plummer (as Harlan) -- were hamming it up like crazy, it was a lot of fun to watch. Caught in the middle of all that family madness was Ana de Armas as the mousy nurse Marta (whose country of origin changed every time it was brought up). Muppet and Yoda meister Frank Oz appeared in a cameo as Harlan's attorney.
With obvious reverence to Dame Agatha Christie, writer-director Rian Johnson has crafted a neat little mystery that got more and more complicated along the way. Despite knowing beforehand some inside information that even Detective Blanc did not know yet, the viewer will still keep on guessing whodunit right up to the final revelation of the full solution. While the cast played it up in high camp fashion for entertaining effect, Johnson unraveled his mystery story masterfully, with suspense and logic fully intact. 8/10.
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