Director Martin McDonagh
Genre Comedy | Crime | Drama
Cast Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Peter Dinklage
Rating R
Release Date November 10th, 2017 (Limited)
“A mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter’s murder when they fail to catch the culprit.”
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (let's just call it Three Billboards for short) is a dark comedy-drama written and directed by Martin McDonagh. McDonagh may not be a big name in Hollywood, but he is a unique and talented writer and director. His best work so far would be In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, both similar films in terms of the dark comedy-dramas. The cast for Three Billboards includes Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Peter Dinklage, and Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea).
With stellar performances from the entire cast and a relentlessly crude yet effective sense of humor, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is easily the best dark comedy since Fargo. This movie is a blast, plain and simple. As long as you aren’t easily offended you will thoroughly enjoy each and every second of this film. I went in to the theater with lofty expectations due to early critic feedback as this was initially a very limited release, and it met and actually exceeded those expectations. To this day Fargo is one of my favorite films and is considered to be a cult classic by many. It was actually adapted into a very good T.V. show on network television as well. More importantly, it still stands as one of the best films from accomplished writer/directors the Coen brothers. Three Billboards Director Martin McDonagh seems to share a similar appreciation for dark humor mixed with crime evidenced by the 2012 film Seven Psychopaths, which he also wrote and directed. McDonagh smartly nabbed former Fargo leading lady Francis McDormand and got to work on his next masterpiece with Three Billboards.
Similar to Fargo, and even Seven Psychopaths for that matter, this film lives and dies with the cast and the unique interactions they have throughout the film, triggering a messy and extremely entertaining cause and effect during the two-hour runtime. Luckily everything comes together seamlessly. I really enjoyed each character and I liked how they fit into this dynamic of small-town "politics", for lack of a better word. The writing is smart, edgy, and creative, and even though it could make some viewers feel somewhat uncomfortable (at least at first), I felt that McDonagh did a great job of ensuring everything comes across as artistic expression. I was also rather impressed by the fact that Three Billboards manages to maintain its comedic edge throughout the film while still tugging at the heart strings a little bit. From the writing, to the directing, to the acting, right down to the cinematography, I'm finding it hard to narrow down a weakness with this film, it's just that good.
The cast for Three Billboards is absolutely fantastic. Veteran actress Francis McDormand is a force to be reckoned with and her performance brought me right back to 1996 where she delivered an epic performance in Fargo. She plays a character that has a mean streak like no other and she is very intimidating. What I enjoyed most about her performance was her ability to develop unique chemistry which each different character which was huge in terms of developing the backstory and subsequent chain of events that made Three Billboards so much damn fun to watch. One of my all-time favorite actors Woody Harrelson is in uniform yet again (I feel like he plays some sort of law enforcement official 9 out of 10 roles), and he is absolutely fantastic. As the chief of police he has quite the crew of misfits on his payroll and he does an amazing job balancing out the insanity.
As hard as it is to pick a favorite amongst a stellar cast I feel like Sam Rockwell's performance stood out to me most. I am a Rockwell fan in general even though if you mention his name most people will have no idea who you are talking about until you show them a picture. A veteran actor with 99 credits according to his IMDb filmography, he is best known for Iron Man 2, Seven Psychopaths, and The Way Way Back, which is a fantastic coming-of-age indie drama. Rockwell is a dynamic actor with enough personality and charisma to single-handedly carry a movie. His character in Three Billboards is an absolute riot and I honestly couldn’t picture anyone else playing this role as well as he did. Caleb Landry Jones, who most recently played pivotal roles in Get Out and American Made, delivers yet another great performance in Three Billboards. He plays a character that is sort of the Switzerland (neutral party) as far as the storyline is concerned and he is a huge contributor to the overall effectiveness of the film as a whole. I could go on and on talking about this cast and how much I enjoyed each and every performance but it would take all day.
Three Billboards is one of my favorite films of the year for a few different reasons but mostly because I really liked how it pushed the envelope, and I am also a huge fan of dark comedies. The entertainment value is through the roof from the opening scene and I never felt bored, not even for a second. This is a movie that will satisfy a well-rounded group of genre enthusiasts for years to come. Ever since I left the theater I have been looking forward to seeing Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri again and you can bet that I will be purchasing the Blu-ray on release day. Highly recommended.
