When it comes to
whodunits, some people find immense satisfaction in trying to figure out the
mystery as the story unfolds before them as if they themselves were the
detectives. I am not one of these people. I’m simply not creative or observant
enough, but I still experience that rush when everything is laid bare, the
guilty parties are brought to light, and the methods at last become clear. Not
a lot of movies offer such moments these days, but Rian Johnson and Daniel
Craig continue to scratch that neglected itch with their modern-day detective
series featuring Craig as Benoit Blanc, a Foghorn Leghorn impersonator with a
penchant for mysteries that involve people that make you say “Hey, it’s that
person!” Wake Up Dead Man is better than Glass Onion and
is almost as good as the original Knives Out… the only thing
holding it back is a lack of fun and interesting side characters, something the
original had in abundance.
Not that anyone is bad in Dead Man…
the acting is, in fact, one of the strongest factors of the film. Josh O’Connor
in particular steals the show as Father Jud, and the day that actors like Glen
Close and Josh Brolin produce lackluster performances will be a cold one in
hell indeed. The thing is, while the suspects in Knives Out were
awful people, they were at least entertaining. In Dead Man, they
are either Benoit Blanc, Father Jud, the local sheriff (Mila Kunis), or someone
who is downright unpleasant and not terribly interesting to watch. Again, this
is not an acting problem, nor is it a writing problem. The fun factor of the
characters is not even a problem at all, really, or at least not an objective
one; it just makes for a less enjoyable watch than the other two films in the
series.
This darker turn is further propelled
by Dead Man's exploration of real-life problems, like the ease at
which some people can use faith to justify abhorrent behavior and the dangers
of cults of personality. True, Knives Out did not shy away
from reality either (did Glass Onion? I don’t know, that one didn’t
stick with me nearly as much) but this one still feels darker somehow.
Wake Up Dead Man also does
something that I think is very undervalued in the mystery genre: it has plenty
of twists and turns but never overcomplicates things for the sake of
surface-level cleverness. It is my belief that some writers are, consciously or
subconsciously, terrified of simplicity, thinking that just because the dumbest
of their audience (me) may understand everything, the story itself is
unintelligent. I followed Dead Man just fine, yet it is far
from being a point A to point B story. It is complicated, but not excessively
so.
Time will tell if the relative lack of fun
will place it below the original Knives Out, but there is no
denying the craft and skill that went into Johnson’s latest headscratcher.
Cleverly written, superbly acted, and deftly directed, Wake Up Dead Man is
everything that a mystery fan could want.
Wake Up Dead Man is now
available on Netflix.
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