Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Starring: Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, Caleb Landry ones, Lucas Hedges, Zeljko Ivanek, Peter Dinklage, John Hawkes, Nick Searcy
Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Frustrated that her daughter's murder remains unsolved, a grieving woman (Frances McDormand) pays for three billboards to publicly attack the local police.

Review:
Tim: I've been a big fan of Martin McDonagh's work for quite a while. And, although I've enjoyed his previous films, they felt incomplete to me. There were amazing moments, but the movies as a whole didn't quite reach their potential. I was excited by what I saw, but confident that McDonagh's best work was ahead of him. I didn't expect it to arrive as soon as it did. Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri isn't a perfect movie- there's still room for McDonagh to grow. It is, however, his most effective movie. It's a great film, easily McDonagh's best and surprisingly, my favorite movie of 2017 (although that can always change, I've seen over 100 movies from this year and none of surpassed this one).

One of the things I love about this movie is that it defies our expectations around every curve. There aren't any "good" characters in this film, but they are likable with their flaws and complexities. I often complain about how movies don't have any likable characters and those movies are always difficult to sit through. That doesn't mean the characters need to be good- this movie features a collection of broken, stupid, misguided people- and yet, we grow to care about them. The movie also proves smarter than it might seem- it feels like the story is going in one direction, but it continually shifts gears, keeping us on our toes. Every time I felt like the movie telegraphed where it was going (which was the route that 95% of similar movies would take), it veered off into a completely different one. I loved McDonagh's willingness to subvert our expectations.

Perhaps what I've loved most about McDonagh's movies is the hilarious dialogue. He has these incredible moments of banter between his characters, often involving profanity, that are just these gems of scenes. It's incredible to watch good actors utter this remarkable dialogue. While this movie doesn't have quite as many zinger lines as In Bruges or Seven Psychopaths, it has enough to satisfy our hopes. It allows his actors to give wonderful performances, because they have something of substance to work with. While I enjoy McDonagh as a director, I like him even better as a writer. It's a shame McDonagh lost Best Original Screenplay, although I understand the historical significance of Jordan Peele's Get Out win.

McDonagh sets his actors up with great writing, but they had to show up and deliver. They obviously do, as Frances McDormand won Best Actress and Sam Rockwell won Best Supporting Actress. They both deserved their wins. I'm not a big fan of McDormand, but her performance was pretty incredible. She's a hard, unlikable woman in some ways. However, McDormand infuses her character with enough humanity that you still care about her, even when she does some perplexingly stupid or awful things. Her performance holds the movie together because her character is all over the place. Sam Rockwell had a tough job. His character is someone you're supposed to hate, even while you begrudgingly feel bad for him. However, his character's arc is the most memorable of the film and Rockwell sells it every step of the way. His role could have been overlooked or dismissed, but I was happy the Academy recognized how essential his performance was. These two have great supporting help. Woody Harrelson is a national treasure and he gives a truly excellent supporting performance. I was so happy he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor- he doesn't have a lot of screen time, but he leaves an indelible impression. Lucas Hedges gives a strong supporting performance, as does Caleb Landry Jones. I loved Zeljko Ivanek in his small role- nearly everything he does is tremendous. I also loved Peter Dinklage here. I love Dinklage because of his role on "Game of Thrones", but it almost feels like his movie roles have been a bit of stunt casting (that's not his fault, it's Hollywood's). This felt authentic and wonderful and I so enjoyed him here. It was nice seeing John Hawkes in a small role. Truly, the entire cast was incredible and McDonagh pulled out these remarkable performances, no matter the amount of screen time. That's one of the most underrated aspects of this film, but one of the reasons it was my favorite movie of 2017- every single cast member works so well and adds to the film significantly. That is so rare to find.

I really believe this movie should have won so many more Academy Awards. I'd have given it Best Picture and you could make an argument for Best Director (it's a crime McDonagh wasn't nominated). Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is one of the quirkiest, most unexpected movies in recent memory, and I loved it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, Six Shooter