Will you laugh at me if I tell you that Glass Onion is one of my comfort movies? It probably depends on how well you know me: close friends might give a knowing chuckle, random acquaintances might back away slowly, wondering why they ever thought I was normal. But I love the movie’s propulsive feel, the twists and turns, and—above all—the way it refuses to take billionaire bird brains seriously.
Glass Onion is a satire of wealth wrapped in a murder mystery. Like its predecessor, Knives Out, the characters are sharply drawn, the clues and red herrings thick on the ground, and the dialogue witty. It’s also beautiful to look at, with most of the exterior scenes shot at the Getty and/or Getty Villa museum(s), and most of the interior shots featuring an astonishing amount of art.
This film is peak Rian Johnson, since he rarely makes a wrong step even as he moves from one genre to the next. Brick was his take on film noir, but with high schoolers. The Brothers Bloom was a twee steampunk romp. Looper was time-travel (“building diagrams with straws” is a line I quote more often than a person should). I’m not getting into the Star Wars debate, but murder and detection seem to be Johnson’s real métier: in addition to the Knives Out trilogy, he was a producer on the now-cancelled Poker Face, which riffed on 1970s and 1980s detective procedurals.
The cast is astonishing, with plenty of actors working against type and some just shifting into new realms: Daniel Craig, fresh off his James Bond gig, is a Southern private detective; David Bautista is a manosphere influencer; Kathryn Hahn is a governor; Leslie Odom Jr. is a scientist (sadly, he doesn’t sing); Kate Hudson is a down-on-her-luck celebrity; Edward Norton is the “billionaire genius” who brings them all together for a weekend party on his private Greek island during Covid lockdowns. Janelle Monáe, playing the role of Andie Brand, the former partner of Norton’s billionaire, is the star of the show.
(Here's an unlocked article from the New York Times about the complexity of casting a Knives Out movie; the focus is really on getting the most amazing actors and working around their availability.)
But I don’t want to tell you much more than that, because to spoil the plot of a mystery—or even the twists and turns that reveal lead to an ultimate reveal—really ruins it for everyone.
Adjacent to the plot, but perhaps the film’s overall goal, is a critique of how often idiocy is mistaken for genius in our present age. Edward Norton’s Miles Bron is a billionaire who doesn’t own a cell phone but does have enough cash to rent DaVinci’s Mona Lisa from the Louvre. He talks about “disruption” like he misread the Wikipedia page, frequently uses malapropisms, and has convinced most of the world—including his employee, Leslie Odom Jr.’s Lionel—that he’s such a subtle genius that he can, probably, never be wrong. After all, his "NFT = kids" napkin led to a multimillion dollar start-up! His new hydrogen-power energy source is foolproof!
It's Miles’s wealth, not his purported genius, that makes everyone fall into line. His friends don’t really like him, but they’re all indebted to him in some way. His taste is weird: his obsession with the Mona Lisa is jejune, his disregard for George Harrison’s guitar (which he owns) is terrifying, and he epitomizes the “glass onion” of the title: for every layer you peel off, the more you realize there is no center.
Daniel Craig’s detective Benoit Blanc, who plays up the Southern gentleman charm and seems to enjoy choosing a good vacation wardrobe, is a fascinating foil to Miles’s idiocy. Blanc is smart, thoughtful, and tends to use his intelligence to help people rather than take advantage of him. He’s also just vindictive enough: watching him quickly solve Miles’s supposedly-ornate murder mystery game was hilarious, especially when Blanc compared it to the New York Times mini-crosswords in terms of difficulty.
The first half of the film gets this whole crowd situated on the island, teasing out the tensions between them. The second half—after a surprise twist—leads to a rather pyrrhic denouement. The bulk of the film takes place in less than 24 hours, but never feels rushed, as Johnson ably establishes characters and motivations: every line of dialogue, every decision, every consequence feels valid and earned.
And it’s fun! It’s snappy and elegant and nuanced. There are cool cameos (can you spot Ethan Hawke?) and fun jokes (the “hourly dong” might be my favorite). The center of all of this amazingness is Janelle Monáe, but—again—I don’t want to spoil exactly how she’s amazing, or why.
Instead, I’ll just encourage you to watch this now, if somehow you haven’t done so yet. And for those of you who have watched it, please jump into the comment section, where spoilers are permitted!
Four out of four great works of art.
Josie Kafka is a full-time cat servant and part-time rogue demon hunter. (What's a rogue demon?)
I was not prepared to like this movie as much as I did! I felt like the setup had an Agatha Christie or more specifically Hercule Poirot/Miss Marple feel and that Daniel Craig was viciously tearing away at the genre while honoring it. It was just well done.
ReplyDeleteMy mom loves the first movie. I caught some of it at her place, so it intrigues me, so it sounds like this one will definitely be worth a watch as well.
ReplyDeleteDo I need to see the first one to follow this one?
ReplyDeleteYou don't. Each installment is a standalone mystery with Benoit Blanc the only recurring character.
DeleteThanks, Mark.
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