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- Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri -
Best film I've seen this year. Expectations were sky-high and I'm glad to say it definitely lived up to them. Martin McDonagh's first film In Bruges is one of my favorite films ever, and while I likely won't rewatch Three Billboards as often as I have that one, that's mostly because this one is "heavier". Despite all the laugh-out-loud moments derived from a fantastic script and non-stop great delivery from one of the best ensembles in years, the overall tone and theme of anger, revenge and (most of all) grief works on another level. Just as with In Bruges, McDonagh juggles dark comedy with tragedy flawlessly, but this film is far deeper and more impactful as a whole.
Frances McDormand does her best work since Fargo. Sam Rockwell is as fantastic as ever (if not more so), as is Woody Harrelson in his rather small, subtle but important role. Heck, almost all of the supporting cast is crazy good, as one would expect with names like Caleb Landry Jones, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, Lucas Hedges, etc.
This is so much more than a "revenge film". It's often bleak and depressing, sure. It's angry and violent and full of swearing, yes. It also manages to draw comedy from all the previous points. But most of all, it's a film about humans being humans, feeling things, reacting to other humans doing the same. And yes, that applies to pretty much all films ever, but few films would ever make me warrant a description like that. Idk, I hope my point comes across. The script, although one or two plot points might feel like they fit a little "too well", is pretty near-flawless, and the cast is superb enough to make the tiny flaws it has seem insignificant.
Spontaneously, it's a 10/10 from me. (We'll see if it stays there or sinks to a 9/10 when it's settled in my mind, as the tenner is usually reserved for what I consider flawless films.)
Best film I've seen this year. Expectations were sky-high and I'm glad to say it definitely lived up to them. Martin McDonagh's first film In Bruges is one of my favorite films ever, and while I likely won't rewatch Three Billboards as often as I have that one, that's mostly because this one is "heavier". Despite all the laugh-out-loud moments derived from a fantastic script and non-stop great delivery from one of the best ensembles in years, the overall tone and theme of anger, revenge and (most of all) grief works on another level. Just as with In Bruges, McDonagh juggles dark comedy with tragedy flawlessly, but this film is far deeper and more impactful as a whole.
Frances McDormand does her best work since Fargo. Sam Rockwell is as fantastic as ever (if not more so), as is Woody Harrelson in his rather small, subtle but important role. Heck, almost all of the supporting cast is crazy good, as one would expect with names like Caleb Landry Jones, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, Lucas Hedges, etc.
This is so much more than a "revenge film". It's often bleak and depressing, sure. It's angry and violent and full of swearing, yes. It also manages to draw comedy from all the previous points. But most of all, it's a film about humans being humans, feeling things, reacting to other humans doing the same. And yes, that applies to pretty much all films ever, but few films would ever make me warrant a description like that. Idk, I hope my point comes across. The script, although one or two plot points might feel like they fit a little "too well", is pretty near-flawless, and the cast is superb enough to make the tiny flaws it has seem insignificant.
Spontaneously, it's a 10/10 from me. (We'll see if it stays there or sinks to a 9/10 when it's settled in my mind, as the tenner is usually reserved for what I consider flawless films.)
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