Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

I can’t seem to see the title to this movie and not feel like there should be a comma before the word “Man”. Yes, yes,  that’s my 70s coming out. This is a film I’ve been waiting for rather impatiently, because I’ve liked the first two so much. The first film, simply called Knives Out, is a murder mystery with not much in the way of a larger theme. There is the class based society message that just being rich and white doesn’t make you “better”, but it’s mostly a straightforward whodunnit. The second film, Glass Onion, is a bit more layered (I’m SORRY, okay? I couldn’t resist.) and didn’t quite do it for me. There were strengths, but also a lot of weaknesses that disappointed me. Still a good movie, but could have been much better.

The first film was so good that, even after the uneven second film I was still really wanting to see the newest and this time it didn’t disappoint. Each of the films has some things in common. There is a large cast played by well known or even legendary actors, loads of mystery story flashback as you would get with classic mystery novels, an involved and nearly impossible to deduce murder, a wonderful setting, and a killer last image. This time the setting is a gothic style old Catholic church in New York state, and the story revolves around a seriously evil priest. Instead of the humongous flashback of the second film, this time we have a very, very long introduction of all the major players. I should have been irritated beyond reason, but it really worked, so kudos. A young priest who killed a man in the ring as a boxer is sent to a small church to further his education and bring him more fully into the cloth. He has internal demons that he works hard to exorcise through incredible faith, and then there is the murder. It’s a locked room mystery much like the first film, and is one tough nut to crack if you like trying to solve before the denouement.

Like the other two films, there is humor sprinkled throughout. Every time I see the doughnut hole soliloquy in the first film I laugh out loud, and this time around I did laugh several times. A lot of the humor is subtle, but some of it is so outrageous I would have tipped my hat if I were prone to wearing one. I wrote down one quote because I loved it so much, when someone describes a person as, “A few beads shy of a full rosary and a real son of a bitch.” Yes, that’s absolutely a Catholic joke and a great one in context. Later, I laughed in disbelief as it was made hugely apparent that this Knives Out has an in your face political message. “We’re with you. Literally nothing you say or do will change that.” Think about a current political person that that sentiment may apply to.  The second film used Covid, this one goes a lot further and in three lines of dialogue in one scene completely NAILS today’s political scene.

The word play is brilliant throughout, and the writer in me loved it. Big words! Used correctly! I had to take a moment several times. Acting, as you may expect from this incredible cast, is wonderful across the board. I felt like Glen Close’s character wonderfully channels Young Frankenstein’s Frau Blücher. With a banger of a script, super art direction as per usual, and a setting that gives a wonderful sense of place the film is uniquely Knives Out and its own movie at the same time. Even the minor characters have great moments and I will admit to getting a little choked up at one point. There’s a bit of gruesomeness in one scene that amazed me. Beautifully done, but wow. As with the other two movies, a strong theme is greed and lust for power that, but even though it’s the same it feels just a tad different here.

My only quibble is that it’s a bit too long. There was some trimming I would have liked to see, and the last quarter or so of the movie went on too long. That was a shame, but didn’t cause my grade to go down substantially. This is a really fun movie, and only a tad under the brilliance of the first film.  If you get a chance to see this, even if you have to visit a friend that has the streaming service, I absolutely recommend it. Let me know if you gasp out loud when you start catching the actually heavy handed political messaging. That surprised me quite a bit and I’m wondering if it will impact the movie’s performance with its audience. For my part, I thought it was brave and well done.

Triggers: one gruesome scene, heavy political messaging, mixed messages about Catholicism.

Available on: Netflix

LINKS:

• Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – Official Website
• Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – IMDB
• Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – Wikipedia

CFR: In Addition

Oh I was so excited to see that Cranky had reviewed this! I had just watched it twice in the past days and was thinking about it. Plus my soul sisters talked about it a bit with me.

I, like Cranky, really enjoyed the current political setting being used in this movie. It was spot on. I was also confused as to who the killer was and that was good too.

Now this movie does not clip along like the first two Knives Out movies. However, I found it very enjoyable. I watched it twice in a row so obviously I enjoyed it.

I must now salute Daniel Craig. What a fantastic actor! One of my soul sisters stated that he carried the movie. I told her, yup, that man has the acting chops. He is charismatic, fearless, and OMG does he look GOOD. Extra good in the movie, I must add.

I really enjoyed the setting of the movie too. I like the smallish town feel and setting. I really though the church was beautiful.

I really loved the young priest and have seen online where other Catholics liked him too. A true man of god. I was touched by his character’s “grace” in the movie. He felt divinely inspired at time and I do enjoy seeing that. I of course loved the hypocrisy of the some of the “faithful” characters being exposed. Excellent.

So check this out and I hope you enjoy it.