"Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" Review
Martin McDonagh's "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" is a brutal tale about a woman (Frances McDormand) who is hellbent on finding the man who raped and killed her daughter. It's unflinching in its characterizations and isn't ever afraid to explore their flaws. Also this movie is hilarious as fuck.
Frances McDormand is a force to be reckoned with in my favourite role of her's since Fargo (1997). Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell are perfect character foils and makes the plot as intriguing as it becomes. It's not just a woman trying to find a rapist murderer and calling the police out on their lack of involvement. It tackles themes like police brutality, parental negligence, redemption, and finding catharsis in a world that refuses to provide any answers.
One criticism that I have is that Samara Weaving's character is very one-dimensional and serves as the butt of a lot of the jokes in the movie. It drew me out of it since its script is so dense and all its other characters are so much more complicated than that. I just found it weird that any one of these characters can exist in the real world and then you have a ditsy teenager who's only there to be the comic relief.
Having seen "Seven Psychopaths" and "In Bruges" (most of it anyway), I wasn't the biggest fan of McDonagh's work. But "Three Billboards" excited me and left me with a lot of emotions that I didn't feel towards his other work. This is a phenomenal piece of cinema that makes me want to revisit his other stuff.