Knives Out 3: The Second Best Movie of 1975

Knives Out: 3 stars out of 4 - One of the best ensemble casts of the past decade. It was a throwback to the Agatha Christie-inspired movies of early Hollywood.

Knives Out 2: 4 stars out of 4 - One of the best ensemble casts of the past decade. It was a throwback to the Agatha Christie-inspired movies of early Hollywood. The caveat for Part 2? Stinging social commentary relative to 2022. It was easily the best movie ever produced by Netflix.

Knives Out 3: 3.5 stars out of 4 - One of the best ensemble casts of the past decade. It was a throwback to the Agatha Christie-inspired movies of early Hollywood. The caveat for Part 3? 2 points, the cinematography was nearly perfect, and Mila Kunis almost ruined a very good movie. Let's review the 2 points a little more thoroughly.

• If the first line of any movie review is "the cinematography was excellent," you are about to watch a slow paced film. I thought Knives Out 3 could have used some editing. There were, at least, 2 scenes where I could hear director Rain Johnson in my ear whispering "you see that cinematography?" A better soundtrack would have distracted you in the quiet moments, but the soundtrack composer was Johnson's Cousin. If a movie is truly great, you notice the cinematography on the second or third viewing. If you notice it in the first view, you have too much time to think.

• This week, Quentin Tarantino was heavily criticized for calling out some beloved actors, including Matthew Lillard. With that in mind, I begrudgingly have to say that Kunis was terrible in this movie. Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin, and Glenn Close all put in Oscar-worthy performances, but every time Kunis was on screen, I cringed. Her performance wasn't only the worst in this movie, but was easily the worst acting from any of the 3 films in the series. About half way through, I couldn't help but think a better casting decision would have been made if Johnson would have simply used the template set by Chloe Sevigny as a small town sheriff in The Dead Don't Die.

But other than Kunis, I am nitpicking.

Do I think Knives Out 3 was one of the best movies of the year? No. According to Variety, it wasn't even the best movie from Netflix this year. (They preferred Steve and Train Dreams.)

But with a budget of over $200 million, I couldn't help but think if you sent the movie back to 1975, audiences would have loved it. A boxing priest and a dead monsignor doesn't even sound like an intriguing pitch for 2025, even the social media aspect of Knives Out 3 seemed forced.

Why am I so critical? Because it was so, so close to being as good as the second one.

But with the way Netflix sets up their production schedule, I look forward to a very good Knives Out 4 movie....

In 2031.