Michael Keaton makes his directorial debut with “Knox Goes Away,” a stale, exhausting, wannabe modern noir film. He’s not a terrible director, but the ridiculous and convoluted script (by Gregory Poirier) is something that wrecks the film from the get-go.
Contract killer John Knox (Keaton) has just been diagnosed with a rapidly advancing form of dementia, and he’s taking the news surprisingly well. Using his last few weeks of mental sharpness, Knox is suddenly given the opportunity to redeem himself in the eyes of his estranged adult son, Miles (James Marsden). Miles has gotten himself in trouble, and needs a skilled cleanup man. But losing the ability to problem solve and struggling with a foggy memory makes things much more difficult.
When you stop to think about it, the story becomes even more ridiculous with its dumb, pointless, and absurdly elaborate turns. I can’t explain why without revealing major spoilers, but the big reveal is one of the most unsatisfying, ridiculous plot twists in recent memory. The story is overly complicated for absolutely no reason.
Keaton’s leading performance is strong as he conveys a feeling of loneliness and isolation. He’s well-cast as an aging hit man, but his understated style is overshadowed by Marsden’s over the top turn. He’s a distracting presence in every shared scene with Keaton, and the two have little chemistry.
In the end, it’s the screenplay that proves to be the biggest detriment to the film. “Knox Goes Away” is a middle-of-the-road crime procedural that’s neither gripping nor thrilling.
By: Louisa Moore
Screen Zealots 
Just saw this. Surprisingly good, and fairly satisfying.
It almost seems like you didn’t watch the movie, but rather wrote a review based on a friend telling you about the movie. You call the plot “overly complicated” and “dumb,” but at least you admit you can’t say why. You can’t say why because you don’t understand it. With the precision set up to Knox’s dilemma, his plan — albeit complex — is really the ONLY conceivable way out for Miles. That is what made the movie satisfying. The absolute necessity for the complex strategy pitted against Knox’s increasingly diminishing capacity to pull it off. If I didn’t understand the parameters of the narrative, I probably would have thought it “dumb” too. Fortunately, I was able to follow along. Sorry you weren’t.
Solid movie. I do agree that Marsden’s performance was not all that good.
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I can assure you I watched this at its premiere at TIFF. Thank you for sharing your criticisms of my review, it only helps me to get better. But I do stand behind my comments that it was so dumb.
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