The Toronto Film Festival is underway and more reviews are coming in for the world premieres taking place this weekend.
The best reviewed release of the festival so far seems to be Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery”. The title is currently sitting at 95% from 22 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and an 82/100 on Metacritic from 12 reviews – the latter score matching the 82 of the first “Knives Out” film.
Like the reviews yesterday, there’s plenty of praise for the performances (especially Josh O’Connor, Daniel Craig and Glenn Close) and is described as very sure of itself and highly entertaining, the few complaints mostly being that it’s too convoluted for some. The film will launch its trailer online tomorrow morning.
That’s come in ahead of two other high profile star-led debuts at the fest. One is the Channing Tatum-led “Roofman” which is at 90% from 10 reviews on RT and 74/100 from 5 reviews on MC. Praise is high for the performances and chemistry, but low for the slow pacing and melodramatic aspects.
The other is the Brendan Fraser-led “Rental Family” which is at 100% from 9 reviews on RT and 70/100 from 7 reviews on MC. That film is dubbed a good-natured comedy-drama with a very empathetic perspective, but also a crowd pleaser that doesn’t really explore the thornier, darker or more interesting aspects of its premise.
Aziz Ansari’s “Good Fortune” also screened yesterday and while there aren’t enough reviews yet on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s at a 64/100 on Metacritic from six reviews, with praise for what Ansari is trying to achieve but it sounds like he doesn’t quite get there.
More reviews are expected to come in shortly for the Russell Crowe & Rami Malek-led courtroom drama “Nuremberg,” the Elizabeth Olsen and Miles Teller-led fantasy dramedy “Eternity,” the Angelina Jolie-led fashion story “Couture,” the Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel-led Soderbergh comedy “The Christophers” and Ben Wheatley’s thriller “Normal” starring Bob Odenkirk.
