Tag: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Knives Out

2019   Lionsgate Films

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  2 hr  10min

Comedy ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller ~ Whodunnit

Directed by:  Rian Johnson

Starring:  Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Christopher Plummer, Frank Oz, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, K Callan, Noah Segan, M. Emmet Walsh, Marlene Forte and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Nothing Brings A Family Together Like Murder

Knives Out follows the wealthy Thrombey family in the aftermath of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey’s (Christopher Plummer) mysterious death at his sprawling estate. Detectives led by gentleman-sleuth Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) arrive to question the relatives, all of whom seem more interested in Harlan’s money than in mourning him. As Blanc listens in, it becomes clear that each family member is hiding something, and that the “suicide” might not be as straightforward as it looks.​

At the heart of the story is Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), Harlan’s kind, soft-spoken nurse, who had a close, genuine bond with him that his own children (Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette) seem to lack. Marta throws up when she tries to lie, which turns her into both an unlikely ally and a walking truth-detector for Blanc. When the will is read and Marta unexpectedly becomes the main heir to Harlan’s fortune and mansion, the once-smug Thrombeys quickly turn on her, exposing their entitlement and desperation in very down-to-earth, almost darkly comic ways.​

As pressure mounts, Marta finds herself scrambling to keep her own involvement with Harlan’s final hours hidden while also trying to do the right thing. Harlan’s black-sheep grandson Ransom (Chris Evans) steps in, acting like the only family member willing to help her, but his smug charm and sudden interest raise questions about his true motives. The investigation spirals into car chases, secret notes, and late-night meetings, all while Blanc patiently pieces together a timeline that keeps shifting as new details emerge.

Ana de Armas shines as Marta Cabrera, the immigrant nurse who’s equal parts heart and hidden steel in a house full of schemers. She plays her as genuinely kind and awkward, constantly fidgeting or throwing up when she tries to lie, which makes her the moral center everyone else orbits around. It’s a breakout role that lets her mix vulnerability with quiet smarts, turning what could be a side character into the emotional engine of the whole mystery. Her chemistry with Harlan (Christopher Plummer) feels real and earned, like the one authentic relationship in a family built on fakeness, which sets her up perfectly for the chaos when the will drops its bombshell. De Armas nails the outsider vibe too, soft-spoken accent, wide-eyed politeness that masks a fierce sense of right and wrong, making every scene she’s in crackle with tension and sympathy

A couple of minutes in watching Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, I forgot that it was Daniel Craig. Instead of just playing Daniel Craig with an accent, he disappears into Benoit Blanc completely. He leans hard into Benoit’s slow, drawling Southern charm, with a slightly goofy, theatrical edge, and it strips away all the cool, steely James Bond baggage we’re used to seeing almost immediately. The physicality helps too, looser posture, more expressive hands and face, and a kind of amused curiosity, so he feels like a quirky gentleman detective rather than an action star slumming it. The softness in his voice, the patience in his pacing, and the way he lets other characters fill the space all help you forget the actor and just track Blanc’s brain at work. It feels like watching a character from a classic mystery novel who has somehow wandered into a very modern, messy family drama, and Craig commits to that blend so completely that the star persona fades into the background.

Knives Out doesn’t just copy the old-school whodunnit formula, it updates it by blending classic mystery motifs with today’s social and political tensions. Rian Johnson builds the story around familiar elements, a big eccentric family, a sprawling mansion, and a quirky detective, but uses them to explore themes like privilege, immigration, and class conflict in a way that feels current rather than nostalgic. By flipping when and how key information is revealed, the film shifts the focus from simply guessing the killer to questioning motives, power dynamics, and who gets to claim the moral high ground, turning a cozy genre staple into something sharper and more reflective of the world viewers recognize now.

Knives Out is highly recommended for anyone who loves clever mysteries with bite. It nails the whodunit formula while delivering fresh laughs, stellar acting, and social commentary that doesn’t preach. You know what Bobby says:

Turn off the lights and devices,

Make some popcorn,

Grab a beverage,

and 

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Killer Heat

2024   Amazon MGM Studios

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  36min

Crime ~ Drama ~ Mystery ~ Thriller

Directed by:  Philippe Lacôte

Starring:  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, and Richard Madden.

Jealousy can drive anyone to the edge.

Killer Heat is based on the short story The Jealousy Man by Jo Nesbø. It is from the 2021 book The Jealousy Man and Other Short Stories.

FROM JO NESBØ’S WEBSITE (www.jonesbo.com):

Jo Nesbo is the consummate mystery writer, and his talent for hair-raising suspense and shocking twists are on full display in this inventive and harrowing collection of stories.

A detective with a nose for jealousy is on the trail of a man suspected of murdering his twin; a woman finally overcomes her intimacy issues through a dark encounter with her Peeping Tom neighbor; a fugitive on the run in a remote corner of Norway is lured by a friendly local to what seems to be a wedding ceremony–only to find a much more macabre event.

Contained in this collection are stories of insatiable avarice, unscrupulous lovers, and heartrending fate. With Nesbo’s gift for outstanding atmosphere and complex characters, this is a veritable crime lover’s delight.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Private Detective Nick Bali. He is a former NYPD Detective who has relocated to his father’s empty apartment in Greece following the demise of his marriage. Haunted by the memory of events that led to his failed marriage, and of his daughter, he drinks heavily to block it out. “There’s a calculus to drinking. And if I get the math right, I’ll land in the perfect blackout. No Memories.” Intense jealousy on Nick’s part led to his wife’s cheating and the end of their marriage. It also helped him be a better private Investigator when it came to investigating marital issues between a couple. Through a friend who recommends him, he is contacted by……..

Penelope Vardakis (Shailene Woodley) to investigate the death of her brother-in-law’s identical twin brother Leo Vardakis. Leo and Penelope’s husband Elias were avid rock climbers, having been climbing since childhood. Growing up on the island of Crete with all it’s cliffs was an ideal playground for the two boys. Leo had been rock climbing a cliff Free Solo, which is ascending without any ropes or equipment, relying only on his hands covered in climbing chalk and climbing shoes. He was found at the bottom of the cliff after apparently having lost his footing and dropping 30 meters (100 feet).

Nick flies to Crete where he is met by Penelope who explains that she believes her brother-in-law’s death was no accident. And given the family’s wealth and stature on the island, she has hired him to secretly investigate the murder. Penelope has arranged for him to stay anonymously at a Monastery where she is good friends with the Monks who live there. He settles in and heads to town to start investigating and immediately runs into the Vardakis Family’s influence everywhere he turns. Being a highly successful Billionaire family with generational roots in Crete, they own or have their fingers in everything including the police, the government and the politicians.

This is a Contemporary Noir Thriller complete with voice-over narration by Nick the private eye every step of the way. It feels like those old black and white private eye movies from the past. It is well shot on location in Crete, Greece and is very picturesque. It is not what my dad would call a “Bang Bang shoot ’em up”. It is more of a slow burn as Nick narrates his investigation and findings, and as the plot unfolds. It is based upon the book The Jealousy Man by Norwegian Mystery Thriller Author Jo Nesbø.

I liked Joseph and Shailene in this, I thought it was a good mystery thriller with just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. It is a slow burn but it kept me intrigued as it went along. I have come to like Jo Nesbo and his books, I would definitely recommend them. After all, he is a New York Times Bestselling Author. I personally think he is a good writer and really have enjoyed his books, he is now one of my favorite authors. I am also a fan of this Neo-noir Slow Burn Thriller and a huge fan of Shailene Woodley, and I think you should read Jo Nesbø and watch this movie!

Greedy People

2024   Lionsgate Films

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  52min

Action ~ Comedy ~ Crime ~ Thriller

Directed by:  Potsy Ponciroli

Starring:  Himesh Patel, Lily James, Tim Blake Nelson, Traci Lords, Jim Gaffigan, Uzo Aduba and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

FINDER$ KEEPER$

Will (Himesh Patel) and his expectant wife Paige (Lily James) have just moved to the small coastal Island Town of Providence, South Carolina. Will is starting a job as a Police Officer in the town’s Police Department. Will heads in for his first day on the job and after meeting Police Captain Murphy (Uzo Aduba), he is assigned to be Officer Terry Brogan’s partner. Terry (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has been with the police force for sixteen years and takes Will on a tour of the Island, starting with Tilly’s Coffee Shop where they can get free coffee. Then to Al’s Diner where they can get a free donut and a coffee.

Then Terry drives to a house where he tells Will that he needs to step inside and see his Chinese girlfriend briefly, and if he sees a middle aged Chinese businessman to honk the horn very loudly. As Will is waiting a call comes over the radio for a reported burglary. Will responds and tries to get Will’s attention with the horn to no avail. As Will pounds on the door, the woman’s husband comes home and Will decides he should leave and answer the call himself. He pulls up to the address they received the call from, draws his weapon and enters.

Virginia (Traci Lords) is wearing wireless headphones in the kitchen chopping carrots, when Will sees her he accidently discharges his weapon but misses Virginia. Furious that he shot at her, Virginia attacks Will and in the struggle falls with Virginia on his back. She crashes into the wooden dining room table and it splinters and impales Virginia, who instantly dies. Terry arrives immediately after to find out that Will, on his first day on the job, has just accidently killed the wife of the most well known businessmen on the island. Wallace Chetlo (Tim Blake Nelson), owner of Chetlo’s Shrimp Company, supplies all the seafood on the island and is one of the most successful and influential people on the island.

As Terry and Will try to make sense of what happened, Terry accidently kicks open a wicker basket and discovers it is full of stacks of cash. After looking at the cash, they hatch a plan to take the money and make it look like a burglary. That will get them in the clear of being involved in a homicide and they decide to hide the cash and sit on it until things blow over way down the line. They trash the house, get their alibi’s in order, wipe the scene clear of their presence and head down the road to pull over a vehicle and write a ticket so they have a concrete time alibi.

Which opens up a Pandora’s box of events that no-one sees coming. There is a witness who they find out was in the house at the time of the unintended killing of Virginia. Who is he? Where is he? Why was a million dollars in cash in the house to begin with? Is Virginia’s husband Wallace innocent? Or is their an extra-marital affair behind the curtain? Did the cops stumble onto a conspiracy involving Murder, Adultery, Insurance Policies, Hitmen and Greedy People and in doing so become Greedy people themselves??

That is where the journey turns into a web of deceit and double crossing by half the people on the island. It is a little bit of Fargo, a dash of A Simple Plan and a Pinch of The Ice Harvest brewed up into one wicked cauldron of deceit and greed. It was a nice surprise to see Tim Blake Nelson and Jim Gaffigan in two hilarious roles. Tim as the innocent man who just lost his wife to an unknown murderer in his own house and Jim as “The Irishman”, the competition to Tim’s co-conspirator, the Columbian. Nobody is whom they seem on the surface once you start digging and they realize there is a tremendous amount of money involved. Greedy People!

It is funny, it is violent, it is a whodunit and why caper full of action and misdeeds that draws everyone deeper down a rabbit hole from which they cannot escape. It is a fun, action packed and hilarious ride deep into the abyss of Greed, with twists and turns you just don’t expect.

Is it worth a watch?

Heck Yes!

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