Movie tip

Knives Out

Curses! I thought I had this mystery all figured out ... but I didn’t. The journey is worth it, whether or not you accurately Hercule Poirot the whole thing. Writer-director Rian Johnson gives an up-dated spin to Agatha Christie-style whodunits, and it’s a diverting and timely enterprise. Christopher Plummer is a wealthy mystery author who commits suicide … or was it murder? The story touches on the conflict of the haves and the have nots and on the hot-button issue of immigration; Plummer’s not-American-born caretaker (Ana de Armas) is involved as a drawling detective (Daniel Craig) tries to figure it all out. The suspects are a Hollywood who’s who, from Jamie Lee Curtis to Michael Shannon to Chris Evans, who is hilariously adept at playing a spoiled jerk.