REVIEW: THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Despite its seemingly straightforward title, Martin McDonagh's new masterpiece doesn't take place in Ebbing, Missouri. It takes place in a slightly alternative world, where everybody is just slightly meaner to one another, slightly more profane in their vocabulary, but is simultaneously slightly smarter than any dialogue you're likely to hear in a movie this year. I call it "McDonaghland," and you should buy your tickets for admission ASAP, because Three Billboards is so far my favorite movie of the year.
It may not reach the heights of McDonagh's directorial debut, In Bruges, which I still hold as one of the finest scripts ever produced, but boy does Three Billboards soar. It has the simplest of premises: Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), unsatisfied with the police investigation of the rape and death of her daughter, buys three billboards worth of space to call out the Ebbing police force, singling out Chief William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) by name. The police and the town residents (really anyone that isn't our heroine) aren't happy with the billboards, but Ms. Hayes is one tough cookie.
Three Billboards is not a perfect movie. There is one scene in particular when Mildred goes out to dinner with Peter Dinklage's James that seems just a little needless, despite how fun the dialogue is. But a four-star film (spoiler alert) doesn't have to be perfect: the film just works on all levels. McDormand and Sam Rockwell, who plays the man-child Officer Dixon, are the standouts, and shoo-ins for Oscar nominations for next month. You can feel the anger and despair radiate off Mildred from your theatre seat. I've gotten to know a lot of southern mama bears from living in Virginia, and she is the boss you have to fight when you get to the end of the game. She gets some classic quips, including a stinging, sacrilegious tirade against a humble priest that'll make you clutch your crucifix necklace. Rockwell, who I've never seen a bad performance from, is in peak form as Dixon, whose character arc has some of the most satisfying moments I've seen this year.
Like In Bruges, everything is heightened to the nth degree in McDonaghland. Mildred is threatened with being choked out, and then her son threatens her attacker with a kitchen knife out of the blue! The stakes are so crazy high here because you have no idea what anyone is going to do because of the skewed version of the small town we see so often. It teeters the line between drama and comedy and satire so effortlessly you just have to resign yourself to the ride. All without sacrificing its enormous heart, buried under pounds and pounds of profanities and McDonagh's signature bloody violence. It's the mark of a master craftsman, and I hope you'll reserve your ticket now for the spectacle.
Rating: 4/4 stars
It may not reach the heights of McDonagh's directorial debut, In Bruges, which I still hold as one of the finest scripts ever produced, but boy does Three Billboards soar. It has the simplest of premises: Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), unsatisfied with the police investigation of the rape and death of her daughter, buys three billboards worth of space to call out the Ebbing police force, singling out Chief William Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) by name. The police and the town residents (really anyone that isn't our heroine) aren't happy with the billboards, but Ms. Hayes is one tough cookie.
Three Billboards is not a perfect movie. There is one scene in particular when Mildred goes out to dinner with Peter Dinklage's James that seems just a little needless, despite how fun the dialogue is. But a four-star film (spoiler alert) doesn't have to be perfect: the film just works on all levels. McDormand and Sam Rockwell, who plays the man-child Officer Dixon, are the standouts, and shoo-ins for Oscar nominations for next month. You can feel the anger and despair radiate off Mildred from your theatre seat. I've gotten to know a lot of southern mama bears from living in Virginia, and she is the boss you have to fight when you get to the end of the game. She gets some classic quips, including a stinging, sacrilegious tirade against a humble priest that'll make you clutch your crucifix necklace. Rockwell, who I've never seen a bad performance from, is in peak form as Dixon, whose character arc has some of the most satisfying moments I've seen this year.Like In Bruges, everything is heightened to the nth degree in McDonaghland. Mildred is threatened with being choked out, and then her son threatens her attacker with a kitchen knife out of the blue! The stakes are so crazy high here because you have no idea what anyone is going to do because of the skewed version of the small town we see so often. It teeters the line between drama and comedy and satire so effortlessly you just have to resign yourself to the ride. All without sacrificing its enormous heart, buried under pounds and pounds of profanities and McDonagh's signature bloody violence. It's the mark of a master craftsman, and I hope you'll reserve your ticket now for the spectacle.
Rating: 4/4 stars
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