Thriller
Rating: 3. Rating scale: 0 to 5.
”Knox goes away”
Regi: Michael Keaton
Screenplay: Gregory Poirier. Starring: Michael Keaton, Joanna Kulig, Al Pacino, James Marsden and others. Length: 1 hour, 15 minutes (15 years). Language English. Cinema premiere 3/14
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“All you need to make a film is a girl and a gun”, Jean-Luc Godard blurted out sometime in the sixties. He forgot a ticking clock, a clever plot, a charismatic protagonist and a tough code of honor, but by and large the motto still applies, like it or not.
For example, to spice up a story about a bald hobbyist philosopher and bookworm who meets a Polish sex worker (Joanna Kulig) every Tuesday afternoon and eats his meals at a seedy diner with his shaggy, slobbering friend, it might be wise to make the old man a professional killer .
Directing debutante Michael Keaton, who also plays the main role, does not forget the watch, intrigue and honor. Pretty soon, Knox learns that he is suffering from a rapidly accelerating form of Alzheimer’s and that his brain will soon be mush. Then his prodigal son (James Marsden) appears on the doorstep, drenched in another man’s blood, begging for help out of a predicament where the displaced father’s reprehensible profession can finally come in handy.
And since Knox is a real man who is willing to sacrifice his life for his family but absolutely cannot burden them with something as banal as his health, the clock soon starts ticking. Loud and noisy like an old kitchen clock.
The plan, which Knox scribbling down a small block after seeing the scruffy crime scene is nicely complicated. His wily, worn-out client (Al Pacino) promises to keep an eye on his demented henchman while he puts it to work.
“Knox goes away” is a pleasant, horror-filled thriller for those who like dark, masculine worlds but have no screaming need for either violent action or heartbreaking drama. Sometimes the gray scale is too gray and the pulse too calm, but for that reason the film does not tip over into British cozy detective story and relies solely on nicely toned-down elite acting and charm (the old men or the environments they live in are never overly charming).
What makes the film tick instead are all the twists and turns of the well-written plot and how the script, direction and actors constantly play on Knox’s mental state. When does he know what he is doing and when does he not?
Extra kudos to Keaton because Knox’s condition precludes any franchise into the future and Pacino’s age precludes any prequels. Otherwise, the risk would have been quite imminent.
See more: Three exciting films about memory disease films: ”Memento” (2000), ”Red amnesia” (2014), ”The father” (2020)
Read more film and TV reviews in DN and more texts by Kerstin Gezelius
