A mediocre script redeemed by great cast and performances

Watched this whodunnit last night, and was mildly entertained. The cast is great, including Daniel Craig (cast as an American from the South, who is somewhat of a fussy dandy), Edward Norton (often playing a bad guy, and doing a great job as one here), Leslie Odom Jr (not given much to do) and Kate Hudson (given way too much to do. She is just annoying).

This is the classic, Ten Little Indians/Agatha Christie style remote island mystery. That, by the way (or its update And Then There Were None) is a great mystery and movie. Like Murder on the Orient Express, you can’t guess whodunnit until the detective has everyone in the drawing room, with a local police inspector.

Back to the review. I find the plot and and script to be full of improbabilities, holes, patches, and plain lazy writing. The cast works gamely through the convoluted script, and their watchability helps a lot. As an example, Edward Norton plays an Elon Musk type mega billionaire. He, with a partner, have created some awesome product or service.

But Norton, as Miles Bron, is actually a complete idiot. How can a complete idiot create a zillion dollar company? Why would the partner, as portrayed by Jonelle Monae, partner with him when she is actually the one who actually created the company and built it? How could she not have gotten a majority share of the stock, so that Miles could shove her out? Its just to far fetched and contrived to pass the usual movie reality suspension mode that us film fans typically employ.

I did enjoy seeing the actors at work, their charisma makes up for the lousy script. Edward Norton, so often cast as a smug villain (see The Italian Job), is fun to watch. He plays a doofus pretending to be a genius with great panache and relatability.

I find Daniel Craig unconvincing in his role, maybe because I see James Bond and hear Foghorn Leghorn. My mind can’t buy into that. Note for those that are concerned with such things, it appears that he is gay and that his partner is Hugh Grant. Woke box duly checked. Other than the gay characters, there is only one other woke scene, mercifully over in the first five minutes. Those who find political correctness in movies highly insulting, like me, can watch with minimal disgust.

I can recommend this movie over most of the streaming shows now available, and because I still enjoy a true movie. However, it is not something to spend money on. If you can’t get it free yet, wait till you can. Then catch Murder on the Orient Express, the 1974 version. You will NEVER guess the murder. That is worth paying a rental fee for.

Also See: The Mousetrap, Sleuth (the original with Michael Caine), The Maltese Falcon, and for fun, the mystery spoof The Cheap Detective. The original Knives Out was better but I guessed the murderer early, so not much fun.