Three Billboards
Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Film Review
By the Geezer of Oz
“A mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter’s murder when they fail to catch the culprit.“ [IMDB]
Martin McDonagh is fast becoming one of today’s most capable directors and one who keeps the artistic side of filmmaking at the forefront of his work. His first two feature films were his incredible debut In Bruges and the wackadoodle but charming Seven Psychopaths. As much as I love those two films, especially In Bruges, his latest effort, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is the closest thing to a masterpiece I have seen in recent times. This tragic comedy has the feeling of a Coen Brothers film and would rate highly amongst their work… had it been theirs.
The performances in this film are top notch. Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell were greatly deserving of their Oscar wins. As much as I love Rockwell in almost everything he’s done and thought he was long overdue for a statuette, had Woody Harrelson won the Supporting Actor category, I would not have bat an eyelid. The fantastic work by the supporting cast of this film cannot be overlooked. The long list includes some very familiar faces, amongst them Peter Dinklage, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbie Cornish, Zeljko Ivanek, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Amanda Warren, Lucas Hedges, Kerry Condon, Sandy Martin, Brendan Sexton III, John Hawkes and Samara Weaving. The cinematography by Ben Davis is also extremely effective in holding it all together.
McDonagh not being nominated for the Best Director Oscar is simply mind boggling and losing out in the Best Film category reaffirmed my thoughts on Oscar night being just a popularity contest with no real regard to the Art of filmmaking. Also losing in the Best Original Screenplay category was a politically correct move that had more to do with current industry trend than the quality of the scripts involved.
The plot here, as mentioned above, mixes tragedy and comedy to great effect, but is also a story of redemption and in some way, utter nihilism. It deals with issues of anger, revenge, mortality, loss, love and friendship and moves between them ever so seamlessly. I could write more about the storyline that unfolds during this beautiful film, but it might be better experienced without prior knowledge of the story, as it was for me.
Do yourselves a favour and make sure you see this fantastic piece of cinematic art. 9/10.
