Benoit Blanc is an American original.
Sherlock Holmes by way of the American South. Poirot with charm. Columbo with style and wit.
His adventures force him to face off with venal representations of the worst our country has to offer. In his first outing he confronted different forms of racism, his second had him railing against the lords of big tech and here he takes on the “whitewashed tombs” of hypocritical Christians.
In each film Writer/Director Rian Johnson makes his particular points, but he does it with humor and joy. These aren’t sermons, they’re somewhere between Looney Tunes and the good parts of Murder She Wrote.
So this is a perfect Benoit Blanc movie. Which is not the same as a perfect movie. Can there ever be such a thing? What it is is the best example of what I (and I suspect most of you) want out of Benoit Blanc murder mystery movie.
Someone references Scooby Doo in this movie and it was not out of place. Just part of the fun.
In another section someone asks, “Did I see you on The View?”
And check out how Glenn Close keeps appearing out of thin air.
Delightful.
My mom (who lives for tv detectives and fictional crime novels) loved it. Your mom (if that is her thing) will too.
The secret, if there is one, is that Daniel Craig’s performance as Blanc constantly suggests that he is a rascal. A hunter searching for “Wicked Wolves’ who lives for the thrill of the chase. Or a fox in the henhouse.
Or put another way, he’s Bugs Bunny with Foghorn Leghorn’s accent.
If you can see this in a packed theater listen to the audience when Blanc makes his appearance midway through the flick. It wasn’t quite a cheer but everyone in the room settled in knowing that all would soon be right in the world.
The other secret of these movies is stunt casting. Look, if you can hand off parts of your mystery to Kerry Washington, Josh Brolin, Andrew Scott and Glenn (freakin) Close 80 or 90 percent of the hard work is already done.
I have been a fan of Ryan Johnson since 2005’s Brick. He is a sharp writer and an inventive director. In a better world The Mouse would have handed him the Star Wars franchise and let him run with it.
Instead, he’s got a franchise of his own and, having finished a huge contract with Netflix he can take it off in a new direction.
There is a temptation here though, that must be resisted, as Frodo resisted the one ring and the characters in Wake Up Dead Man should have resisted this flick’s Macguffin.
There will be those who say they want Blanc’s backstory. His first case. The tragedy that made him a detective. The section of the novel titled Who I Am and How I Came to Be.
That way lies damnation.
Never explain him. Never show why he is famous for being a detective. Can you name any real life famous modern detectives? I suspect not.
Never give away the mystery, never play an ace when a two will do. It is almost always ruinous.
The audience will examine the clues and search for answers and meaning with no help from the author.
The joy is in the hunt and finding meaning in our own way.
Dark Highways 
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