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Written by: Martin McDonagh
Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Michael Pitt, Michael Stuhlbarg, Harry Dean Stanton
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A struggling screenwriter inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends kidnap a gangster's beloved Shih Tzu.
Verdict
I wanted to like this, and it definitely has its moments but this lacks a goal. The dog is just a plot device to bring these characters together - the psychopaths. They're interesting but cartoonish. No one has a drive; they're here to entertain though they lack motivation. This needs something pushing us to the conclusion. There isn't much to anticipate due to that. The movie and the screenplay at the center of this both seek a satisfying conclusion. Neither manage to find it.
It depends.
Review
As McDonagh's follow up to In Bruges (2008), I was excited to watch this. It didn't match the quality of its predecessor.
Struggling screenwriter Marty (Colin Farrell) has a movie title, "Seven Psychopaths," but no script. Throughout we're introduced to various unhinged persons, beginning with Marty's friend Billy (Sam Rockwell) who kidnaps dogs along with Hans (Christopher Walken), returning them for the reward.
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| Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell play Billy, Marty |
It's the Jack of Diamonds killer, psychopath #1, that intervenes when Marty and Hans are assaulted by Charlie's men. Billy inadvertently stole his dog, and local crime boss Charlie wants her back. It's more tangled than that as Billy was involved with Charlie's girlfriend. When Charlie expresses how serious he is, Billy retaliates. Billy is crazier than we thought, taking two spots on the psychopath list.
Billy, Hans, and Marty hide from Charlie in the desert. They discuss the script with nothing better to do. It's easy to look for parallels in Marty's story and the movie. Not all of the psychopaths are characters introduced in the movie, some are fictional that Marty created for his screenplay or told to him as a story. Marty wants his script to be the perfect revenge movie setup with the second half taking place in the desert, decrying the violence of the first half. The three brainstorm for conclusions to the script, of course Billy's ideas are quite violent. I wondered if this is where things would begin to overlap. It gets stranger when Marty confronts Billy about what he's done. Billy states it was to help Marty generate ideas for the script. That seems like a flimsy excuse.
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| Woody Harrelson, Colin Farrell play Charlie, Marty |
Seeking the grand finale, Billy calls Charlie and tells him exactly where they're hiding. Billy wants a big shootout, and he wants to make sure it happens.
This feels similar to Adaptation. (2002), with a writer struggling to create a script and the last act devolving into ridiculous violence. While this has several scenes with clever dialog, there's never a goal that drives the characters. The dog is a forced plot device. While it starts the movie, this just doesn't have anywhere to go. Of course after seeing In Bruges (2008), I was excited to see the follow up. I can't help but wonder what's the point. These characters are cartoon characters, especially Billy. It creates a disconnect.
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| Title Card |
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