John Knox (Michael Keaton) is an aging contract killer who is diagnosed with an extremely rapid form of dementia that will see him loose lucidity in a matter of weeks. As Knox prepares to get his affairs in order before losing cognitive function, he must also keep his estranged son, Miles (James Marsden), out of prison after he killed a man who seduced Miles' underage daughter.
Knox Goes Away is the sophomore directorial effort of Michael Keaton (who also stars) having previously helmed The Merry Gentleman over 15 years ago. Working from a relatively low budget and quick shooting schedule, you can tell that Keaton is throwing his all into the film as it's well acted with some strong characters and tension even if I fee, some elements of the script don't fully work.
While Knox Goes Away is a very familiar premise in the hitman/contract killer subgenre of thrillers unlike many genre exercises we've had of late much of the details of that aspect are left in the background while the primary focus is on the characters and how they face the grim reality before them. Keaton gives a wonderful performance as John Knox whose portrayal of a man with sharp intelligence and humor underscores the tragedy as the weeks tick by leaving him with less of himself as he runs short on time to rectify his affairs. Having recently undergone my own experience with this situation I'll freely admit there's a high likelihood that my perception has elevated certain scenes especially between Keaton and James Marsden as his son that gave a sense of raw emotional power. The movie also features a collection of good actors in the ensemble such as Marcia Gay Harden, Suzy Nakamura, and Al Pacino and Keaton does a good job directing himself against the other actors and creating some strong emotional scenes.
The one major misstep I had was in Gregory Poirier's script where it touches on underage sexual assault in a very detatched manner as the focus is more on Miles' reaction to the situation than his daughter's who isn't really a fully formed character and instead comes off as more of an archetype because the plot needed an inciting incident. There's nothing wrong with looking at how the family of sexual assault victims cope with the tragedy, after all the 2010 film Trust did it, but like Trust you also need to make sure if you include this element in the story you need to serve it properly and by holding the audience at a distance from the character who experiences this it only serves to detract from the main focus and feel cheap and exploitative in the process.
As a performance piece and directorial exercise, Keaton shows himself to be deftly capable of wearing many hats and balancing the elements needed to make something both tense as well as emotionally raw. The script does have some underlying issues that are hard to ignore, but the strength of everything around it helps in its favor.
Knox Goes Away is the sophomore directorial effort of Michael Keaton (who also stars) having previously helmed The Merry Gentleman over 15 years ago. Working from a relatively low budget and quick shooting schedule, you can tell that Keaton is throwing his all into the film as it's well acted with some strong characters and tension even if I fee, some elements of the script don't fully work.
While Knox Goes Away is a very familiar premise in the hitman/contract killer subgenre of thrillers unlike many genre exercises we've had of late much of the details of that aspect are left in the background while the primary focus is on the characters and how they face the grim reality before them. Keaton gives a wonderful performance as John Knox whose portrayal of a man with sharp intelligence and humor underscores the tragedy as the weeks tick by leaving him with less of himself as he runs short on time to rectify his affairs. Having recently undergone my own experience with this situation I'll freely admit there's a high likelihood that my perception has elevated certain scenes especially between Keaton and James Marsden as his son that gave a sense of raw emotional power. The movie also features a collection of good actors in the ensemble such as Marcia Gay Harden, Suzy Nakamura, and Al Pacino and Keaton does a good job directing himself against the other actors and creating some strong emotional scenes.
The one major misstep I had was in Gregory Poirier's script where it touches on underage sexual assault in a very detatched manner as the focus is more on Miles' reaction to the situation than his daughter's who isn't really a fully formed character and instead comes off as more of an archetype because the plot needed an inciting incident. There's nothing wrong with looking at how the family of sexual assault victims cope with the tragedy, after all the 2010 film Trust did it, but like Trust you also need to make sure if you include this element in the story you need to serve it properly and by holding the audience at a distance from the character who experiences this it only serves to detract from the main focus and feel cheap and exploitative in the process.
As a performance piece and directorial exercise, Keaton shows himself to be deftly capable of wearing many hats and balancing the elements needed to make something both tense as well as emotionally raw. The script does have some underlying issues that are hard to ignore, but the strength of everything around it helps in its favor.