Knox Goes Away is an interesting film that’s maybe a little too long and doesn’t really present its central disease very well. But it does turn around a rather unique twist/mystery that made me respect the movie a lot more than I was enjoying it.

It stars Michael Keaton as a hitman who finds out he has an aggressive form of dementia… as in only weeks before his mind is gone. So he sets out a plan to liquidate his assets and turn them over to his family… while also dealing with a messed up hit AND his son getting into similar trouble (for good cause).

Keaton is fine in the flick but I think his script or maybe the editing lets him down a bit. You see, the idea of this super rapid dementia isn’t presented on screen very well and his mental faculties seem random and inconsistent. I think Keaton is capable of the job, but the script reveals his decline too unevenly.

The film feels overextended at about two hours as well… but I did like where it ultimately went. It has a nice twist that itself includes a switcheroo within it that I really appreciated. I was baffled as to WHY Keaton’s character does something… it didn’t make sense for the character either as a rational decision OR as a result of his disease. But the flick had me in its wily grasps and it worked out pretty great in the end.

So while I was a bit on the fence getting there, the final act worked itself out wonderfully. Kind of wished maybe the film were shorter or even a short. It’s a worthwhile watch with a little patience and a healthy respect for a script that works some magic in the end.

Score: 81