A throwback, American-style, to the Agatha Christie murder mysteries, packed with some terrific actors. Daniel Craig plays a mysterious and stylish Southern private detective who is assisting the local police in determining how a famous and very wealthy crime novelist (Christopher Plummer, looking like he’s having loads of fun) met his untimely demise — was it suicide or murder? — during the night of his 85th birthday, surrounded by his seriously dysfunctional and suspicious extended family (which includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon Don Johnson, Chris Evans, and Toni Collette), each of whom appear to have a motive to get rid of the old man. At 130 minutes the story is a bit long, but director Rian Johnson makes the most of it and delivers an entertaining and witty, if light, tale.
