I liked KNIVES OUT and was looking forward to GLASS ONION. I like that we are bringing forward this story telling tradition. But I think it also proves that, as much as these types of films and novels are dismissed as being “genre” work and not real drama, the plots are damned hard to craft. This one is meh. It relies more on the editing of the film, and the order in which information is revealed, than on the interest in the story itself.
In particular, I think the use of Davinci’s Mona Lisa was a mistake. Even in a film as silly as this one, it breaks the credibility. Everybody knows it just didn’t happen. They should have created some obnoxious fictional artist.
The broad acting, together with the tacky excesses of design and privilege and the plot manipulation just make the film exhausting
I do like that we have updated character “types” that fit the 21st century. Gone are the scullery maids and tweedy lesbians. Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista give us the clearest of these new archetypes. And the actors are having fun playing these characters just as broadly as they can. I say, I say, Blanc in particular is practically Foghorn Leghorn, sir! Give him a white suit with a string tie and he’ll sell you a bucket of chicken. The bits of his personal life that are revealed are amusing. But the broad acting, together with the tacky excesses of design and privilege and the plot manipulation just make the film exhausting. Every single element is OT. It feels like Rian Johnson doing the worst of Ryan Murphy. Try again, with more of Blanc in the bath yelling at his husband and give Lady Janelle a more interesting part. Maybe she and Harry Styles should do a movie together…