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I was watching The Other Guys starring Michael Keaton as a police captain before I went to watch Knox Goes Away and man, does Keaton have range! In the Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg comedy vehicle, Michael Keaton plays a police captain who has been beaten down by life and toned all the way down.
In Knox Goes Away, Keaton plays the role of a professional contract killer who in the twilight years of his life is hit with a rare form of Dementia that is untreatable.
A decent standalone movie, Knox Goes Away has a decent plot and good execution. Considering Adam McKay has directed both The Other Guys and this one, this comes as no surprise.
The Plot of Knox Goes Away
Knox Goes Away shows Michael Keaton in his element as an action hero quite similar to his role in American Assassin. The movie starts with Knox having problems with memory while going about his life as a hitman which leads to the ill-fated diagnosis.
Faced with only a few weeks of lucidity left in his life, Knox begins to put his affairs in order only to have his son ask him a big favor. The favor? help his son "take care" of a murder he committed while confronting a man who impregnated his teenage daughter.
What plays out is an elaborate cover-up while Knox tries to cope with his increasingly dangerous health condition. Unless you are a contract killer yourself or are a hardcore fan of murder movies, the plot twists will keep you entertained. Plus Batman himself is on the job, so how could it not be incredibly entertaining?
There is nothing groundbreaking about how they show Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the movie from which Knox is suffering. But Keaton's Knox character is shown to anticipate the progression of his condition and plans beautifully to counter the same. He ensures that he solves his son's problem, takes care of his family and eventually himself.
The Cast
Apart from Michael Keaton hitting it out of the park with his performance, you have one of the all-time greats Al Pacino playing Xavier his handler. Al Pacino's performance is on point as usual and quite enjoyable.
A few other familiar faces include James Marsden as the son Miles, Marcia Gay Harden as the wife, and Morgan E. Bastin as Kaylee the granddaughter. My personal favorites were
Suzy Nakamura as Emily Hikari the detective and Ray McKinnon as Thomas Muncie his colleague. Nakamura plays the wife in Dr Ken and McKinnon has a small role in Ford v Ferrari.
Everyone in this movie delivers great performances which makes the movie fun to watch.
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Should You Watch This? Yes!
While this movie might not win any Academy Awards, it has good screenplay, editing, a strong cast and a satisfying ending. It is definitely worth a watch - even in the theater!
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