I sure wish writer-director Martin McDonagh would make more movies. He only has three, but they're all highly regarded. His 2012 film, Seven Psychopaths, is one of my all-time favorites.
His newest movie revolves around Frances McDormand's character, Mildred, renting three billboards outside of town in order to put a message on them criticizing the local police chief, Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), for not solving the case of her daughter's rape and murder.
This plays with our own gut reactions, as we quickly shake our heads assuming that this must be another result of a corrupt system. It's not. Willoughby actually becomes the film's best character, grounding it and providing the one true conscience amidst everyone else's anger and lack of forgiveness. You could make a case that he's the real protagonist.
Much like in Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards is character driven, but in a way that incorporates their actions as well as their given depth. They all have faults and make terrible decisions, but their peer's counter-decisions is what changes them--even if their peers aren't doing great things either.
Most of the characters are neither good nor bad. Much like most of us, they have their vices AND their virtues. McDonagh could have followed this sentiment with showing them, at the end of the day, being completely changed in every aspect. But he doesn't. Because it's never that easy in real life. It's never that black and white.
The key to fully appreciating this movie is knowing when Mildred is wrong even when it's portrayed that she isn't. She's always talking all high and mighty. It's like arguing with a guy who thinks that just because he's yelling, using big words, and sounds intelligent that he's right.
The reason why Three Billboards is such a brilliant film is because McDonagh understands film formula so much that he knows how to perfectly subvert it without alienating his audience. It allows so much more to happen in a smaller amount of time. Much like Hitchcock used to do, he prevents everything from being streamlined or foreseeable, while at the same time not letting it become jarring. The abrupt tonal shifts are completely intentional and meant to be a simile for real life.
Sam Rockwell plays an extreme cop who handles situations with violence because he thinks he can always get away with it. Rockwell's mercurial demeanor that he brings to many of his characters fits so perfectly with McDonagh's style--which draws comparisons to the Coen Brothers (but with more warmth and realistic endings).
McDonagh has a love for the politically incorrect. He likes to draw humor out of situations that shouldn't ever be funny. You might not laugh at first if you're in a room with others because you're unsure if you're supposed to. Often times the joke is surrounded by very serious context. It's because he knows that the best humor is rarely in the well-scripted dialogue, but in scenarios that are true to life.
McDonagh does well to keep his own ideals and agendas out of the movie. Though he slips up once in allowing his anger to enter in through Mildred when she rants about how priests should have culpability like the Blood and Crip gangs have in Los Angeles. It's an odd choice for a person of power in this industry to promote culpability laws in his movies--especially at a time like this in Hollywood.
With that said, Three Billboards is truly a brilliant film, and another reminder of why McDonagh should have more than just three movies.
Twizard Rating: 100
So, one of my top 5 favorite things to do in the world is to complain about the Academy and their decisions to nominate (or lack thereof) certain films or people compete for their prestigious awards. Here is my own personal list of who I felt could have been included in this year's race. Many of these are widely known across the Oscarverse as snubs, while some of them may not be as agreed upon. I know I'm a little late on the snub post, but better late than never I guess.
Best Picture
Snub: Skyfall...although this is the first year in forever where I actually like all of the Best Picture nominees, I do think that there is room for, in my opinion, one of the top Bond films of all time, as well as one of the best films of the year.
Who It Should Replace: Well, since there are only 9 nominees and the cap is 10, it could fit on without any of the current ones being taken off. But if you had to take one off, it could probably be Amour.
Honorable Mention: Robot & Frank and Seven Psychopaths should have at least been talked about a little bit more.
Best Actor
Snub: John Hawkes in The Sessions. I would also make a case for Tom Hardy in Lawless.
Who He Should Replace: Denzel Washington in Flight. Although Denzel's performance was great, Hawkes' was career-defining and so much more convincing. In such a great year for leading actor performances, it's hard to place Denzel above a handfull others who, in my opinion, should be there instead.
Honorable Mention: Tom Hardy in Lawless, Richard Gere in Arbitrage, Anthony Hopkins in Hitchcock, Bill Murray in Hyde Park on Hudson, and several others....This is the reason why I've always felt that the Best Actor category should be like the Best Picture category and have between 5 and 10 nominees depending on the vote percentage.
Best Actress
Snub: Helen Mirren in Hitchcock AND Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone
Who They Should Replace: Naomi Watts in The Impossible, and Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty
Best Supporting Actor
Snub: Javier Bardem in Skyfall, and Samuel L. Jackson in Django Unchained.
Who They Should Replace: Alan Arkin in Argo, and Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master.
Honorable Mention: Dwight Henry in Beasts of the Southern Wild, and I'll probably get shunned for saying this, but I think Giovanni Ribisi would have been an interesting candidate for his role in Ted. Yeah, sure, he probably shouldn't have gotten nominated over these others, but he should have at least been talked about in contention.
Best Supporting Actress
Snub: Any one that's not Amy Adams in The Master
Who They Should Replace: Amy Adams in The Master. I still have no idea how she got nominated.
Best Director
Snub: Ben Affleck for Argo, AND Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained
Who They Should Replace: Michael Haneke for Amour, and Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild
Honorable Mention: Tom Hooper for Les Miserables. I don't think Kathryn Bigelow should be here, despite popular belief.
Best Animated Feature
Snub: Rise of the Guardians...much reminiscent of last year's Arthur Christmas, which was also a Christmas film and failed to get nominated.
Who It Should Replace: The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Best Foreign Language Film
Snub: The Intouchables
Who It Should Replace: A Royal Affair
Best Original Screenplay
Snub: Looper AND Seven Psychopaths
Who They Should Replace: Moonrise Kingdom and Zero Dark Thirty
Best Adapted Screenplay
Snub: There are a few screenplays, such as The Sessions, or The Hobbit, or The Dark Knight Rises, or even The Avengers that could be considered here, but I'm not sure that I would be able to replace any of the existing nominees.
Who They Should Replace: If I had to choose, I would pick Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Best Original Score
Snub: Cloud Atlas or Beasts of the Southern Wild
Who It Should Replace: Anna Karenina
Honorable Mention: The Hobbit
Technical Categories
Snub: Cloud Atlas for Production Design, to replace The Hobbit
Snub: The Dark Knight Rises for Sound Editing, to replace Argo
