Parents' Guide to Knox Goes Away

Keaton's second directorial effort is both a quietly touching human drama and a tense, race-against-time thriller. It's confident and clever, filled with fine, subtle performances. (In Keaton's directorial debut, The Merry Gentleman, he also played a professional killer, although that movie and Knox Goes Away aren't connected.) Keaton has an elegant touch, often settling on small details. The film begins with an overhead shot of a man's hands gathering his things—keys, wallet, phone, notepad, etc.—and then walking away and forgetting his watch and coming back to retrieve it. Conversations in the movie are soft-spoken and natural, as if all these characters have known each other for years. Knox and Muncie's argument about whether they should know who their targets are is fascinating. A meeting with Knox's ex-wife (Marcia Gay Harden) is gently touching, as are phone calls to an old pal, professional thief Xavier (Al Pacino). Best of all is Suzy Nakamura as sharp, prickly police detective Emily Ikari, who's just two steps away from figuring out Knox's plans.

But Keaton is just as good at telling this three-pronged story, finding tense ways to show Knox's hunt for the money and jewels. (A trip to a remote cabin is a real nail-biter.) He's good with visuals, and, like any good actor-director, he knows how to use his own persona and screen presence to great effect. There are a few quibbles of logic—Knox's plan to clear his son's name requires that the police would take extra time to reexamine evidence—but, all in all, Knox Goes Away is an excellent movie that's likely to make you wish that Keaton would direct more often.