Directed By Rian Johnson

Starring – Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close

The Plot – Detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) sifts through a series of unusual suspects when a monsignor (Josh Brolin) turns up dead.

Rated PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, strong adult language, some crude sexual material, and smoking.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery | Official Trailer | Netflix

POSITIVES

Aside from revitalizing the whodunnit? subgenre of murder mysteries, what’s most important about the Knives Out franchise is that Rian Johnson has crafted a franchise as a whole that is tied together by one consistent protagonist, yet individually feel unique in the ways that they’re executed, with “Wake Up Dead Man” being the most technically sound of the entire franchise. Blessed with vibrantly meaningful lighting schemes in the transcending stained glass windows and iconography of the characters, as well as some 18th century Gothic architecture in its distinguished setting, the film represents that more stylistically stimulating side of Johnson’s direction, feeding ever so coherently to an overall thickness in atmosphere that feels darker and more dramatic than its predecessors, even without alienating the punctuating personality that makes these movies such an intoxicating investment, giving us an undefining and unspeakable presence that casually lingers over the film and these characters, despite so much preconceived cynicism towards religion stemming from Blanc’s own historical significance on the subject. Speaking of religion, the script not only flourishes another murder mystery investigation that seamlessly carries with it the same kind of speculating impulses and characteristic insights that effortlessly subscribe audiences to the depths of its devastating dangers, but also ambitiously tackles faith and contemporary politics directly in the ways that each of its characters utilize them, serving as a crutch to enact greed for some, while enacting the bridge to resolving confrontation for others, and while each are typically risky propositions for any movie to attempt, especially with an audience that doesn’t veer as forcefully towards one specific side of either dividing conflict, Johnson effectively musters the right kind of responsibility to keep his film from disrespecting one side over the other, instead offering ample evidence in the presence of a higher power, or possibly mental manipulation, the likes of which could easily be argued. Dissecting matters accordingly allows Johnson more of the dastardly delicious dialogue that we’ve come to expect from one of cinema’s most gifted screenwriters, articulating these effortlessly punchy conversations that simultaneously brings out the moral audaciousness of each of the characters holding in their own respective secrets, while also surmising effective opportunity for Johnson to show-off his caustic wit in the depths of these razor sharp deliveries from Blanc or Josh O’Connor’s Reverend Jud, carrying more than a few long-winded laughs, even in the series most firmly stern installment of the entire franchise. If this isn’t enough, the structure of the script takes some big swings at testing the patience of the audience, whether in an aforementioned lengthy runtime that is the longest of the franchise, or by suppressing the arrival of Blanc until around the forty minute mark of the movie’s 135-minute runtime, and what this does is vividly flesh out the seediness of the environment, with each of these character dynamics in and around the church, that give us a greater sense of knowledge with the motivations of so many characters possibilities to commit murder. In previous installments, this kind of informational exposition is something that we would receive meticulously as the film casually persists, but making Jud the distinguished narrator for the movie feeds coherently towards the mystique and ambiguity that constructs so many of these surrounding untrustworthy members of monsignor’s flock, in turn cementing this unwelcoming atmosphere that permeates accordingly throughout the film’s opening act, and with Blanc deduced to more of a supporting role, this time around, it puts the focus and importance of the film squarely on the shoulders of the suspects of the investigation, where it rightfully belongs, allowing us more time to live within the sequencing of events in their interactions or Blanc’s ongoing investigation, in order for the audience to capably and coherently gauge clues towards conjuring the bigger picture that lingers in what seemingly feels at an arms reach at all times, all the while making every opportunity for Blanc to dabble procedurally feel like an ingested shot of adrenaline that is constantly in the movie’s favor. Speaking of Blanc, it should come as no surprise that Daniel Craig once again steps seamlessly into the shoes of this distinguished detective, maintaining the familiar southern drawl and unmitigated confidence that makes his character feel so imposing to those he’s continuously investigating. With the dimensions of the case omitting such inexplainable feats of possibility, it really forces Blanc to re-examine his own trysts with religion, and because of such, we see an uncertain and disheveled side to Craig’s portrayal, that has rarely been there before, balancing his bouts of consistent charisma with a psychological vulnerability outlining the difficulties that he has at piecing such a case together. Beyond Craig, the performances from the rest of the decorated ensemble are admittedly a mixed bag of imbalanced focus, however Josh O’Connor and Glenn Close really pack a devastating punch of personality, with the former brandishing an empathetic earnestness that feels authentic to the broad shoulders of a caring and concerned man of the cloth, and the latter evoking psychological duress to a woman who knows all of the weight of the church’s sketchy past, garnering what is easily Close’s single best performance since her Oscar-deserving turn in 2017’s “The Wife”.

NEGATIVES

That seems like the right time to transition to the weaker side of the performance spectrum, as tragically the charismatic trio of Cailee Spaeny, Andrew Scott, and Thomas Hayden Church are wasted in the clutches of a script that never has time to flesh out their respective presences out accordingly, especially in fighting an overstuffed onslaught of characters that even for Knives Out territory feels a bit too many. This is the most glaring evidence of this film’s inferiority to the original “Knives Out”, as that movie had twice as many characters, and yet still found ways for each of them to shine with their respective turns, and a majority of the suspects here feel like they’re simply standing around waiting to be called to the forefront of the investigation, and despite the movie’s opening act remaining firmly at arms reach during its fleshing out of their respective dynamics to monsignor, it never feels like we have the thorough grasp on understanding the logic behind their strangely surreal actions, undercutting three exceptionally gifted actors who could easily carry a movie by themselves. Aside from a few disappointing portrayals, I also found the mystery of the movie to be the most easily solvable among the franchise, particularly as a result of some unconventional and even clumsy exploits of backstory exposition during the opening act, which glaringly stood out in ways that evidentially felt like the uncovered tidbits would inevitably surmise themselves at a later point in the investigation. While Johnson cleverly elicits some red herrings, such as one character’s confinement to a wheel chair, which feels ripe for a miracle in the making, it feels like too much time is spent on one specific character’s recollection of traumatic events, making it easy to figure out the mastermind behind this devious plan, even if some of the details in motivation were still a little fuzzy in my ironing out. Finally, though not a problem that I took any points away from my finished grade, there is a huge lapse with series continuity that pertains to the casting of Jeremy Renner as this devious doctor, a mere movie after “Glass Onion” depicted the real-life celebrity as an advertising entrepreneur. Most people probably won’t take issue with such a fourth wall breaking to the series own definitive rules, but for me it does remove some credibility from investing seamlessly into this world-building, even if the initial appearance from Renner served as a throwaway joke to that movie’s set-up, making me wish that or Renner’s casting here was omitted from clashing creatively with one another.

OVERALL
“Wake Up Dead Man” is another cunningly curious and infectiously entertaining murder mystery romp from Rion Johnson, whose daringly audacious script and spellbinding style makes this the best made movie of the trilogy, even if not the best executed among them. With killer performances from Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, and Glenn Close, as well as tonal elasticity that simultaneously takes the investigation down some dark and depraved corridors, this series shows no signs of slowing down its quality any time soon, now producing three great installments that each feel uniquely vital to its overall integrity.

My Grade: 8.4 or B+