Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Seven Psychopaths


Seven Psychopaths is the kind of movie where I am completely aware of what is going on, yet I have no idea what’s happening. It is nonsensical and bathshit insane, but, at the same time, fully confident of its absurdity. It never holds back or dials down – it simply pushes it further and, somehow, continually manages to increase its hysteria.

Now, what I’ve just described is either my kind of movie, or something I don’t give two shits about. That’s the risk Seven Psychopaths takes. You’re bound to either love it or loathe it (or be completely indifferent toward it). If this is your kind of movie, then you’ll simply love every second of director Martin McDonagh’s tale. If you aren’t feeling it, then, well, you aren’t feeling it, and you’re going to be miserable.

Honestly, I could’ve just described the general consensus toward McDonagh’s first feature film, In Bruges, a brilliant crime comedy that remains one of the most genuinely hilarious films I have ever seen. I love that movie, many do not. And so it is and so it goes.
Back to Seven Psychopaths. It tells the story of Marty (Colin Farrell, good but not nearly as good as his In Bruges role) a noted Hollywood screenwriter desperately trying to pen his latest script, Seven Psychopaths. Marty doesn’t have many ideas on where he wants the script to go, but his gaudy friend, Billy (Sam Rockwell, stealing every scene, which is most of them) is here to help. Billy constantly throws psychopaths Marty’s way, both figuratively and literally.

Initially, Billy tells Marty tales of psychopaths he’s heard about, or exaggerates on stories he’s read in newspapers. Later in the film, we realize that some of these killers actually exist, and throughout the entire movie, we see various people play various variations of various killers. Some are real, some are in Marty’s head, some are in Billy’s head. You with me? Me either, and that’s because Seven Psychopaths, despite its enjoyable lunacy, bites off too much. It keeps feeding us more and more and more, literally up until its final frame. When it was done, I asked myself, “All of that? Why all of that?”
Maybe it’s because McDonagh knew he had tapped into something completely different while writing his script. He figured out a way to put genres, narratives and plot structures into a blender and hit pulse. I can dig that. And I can dig that, because the film is so different, it attracted a who’s-who of badass movie stars. Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, Harry Dean Stanton, Tom Waits, hell even Michael Pitt and Michael Stuhlbarg briefly show up in roles not at all dissimilar from their respective Boardwalk Empire characters, all to help add weight to the film’s (purposeful) ludicrousness.

Christ, I haven’t even touched on the film’s dog kidnapping subplot, the vengeful Viet Cong priest, or the reason as to why Waits is always walking around with a fluffy white bunny, and that’s because, quite frankly, they aren’t necessary in the movie.

Look, Seven Psychopaths does exactly what it sets out to do: it makes us laugh with its over the top violence and theatrical performances. I liked it, but I would’ve liked it a whole lot more if it held a little back. Maybe that’s just not McDonagh’s style. Fair enough. B-

20 comments:

  1. Tom Waits is such a badass actor - I think he should get way more work, but I guess also being an incredibly influential and interesting (mad alliteration there) musician takes up quite a bit of his time. Loved "In Bruges" as well. When I see reviews saying stuff like "this film tries too hard to be clever or funny" I just think that it looks exactly like the stuff I actually do find clever and funny. Gotta find out when it comes out here.

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    1. Oh don't get me wrong, this flick definitely does NOT try too hard to be clever or funny, it IS clever and funny. It's just a bit too much clever and not enough funny.

      By no means bad, but certainly not In Bruges good.

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  2. Everybody here seems to be having a ball with this script and how could you not? It’s snappy, dark, hilarious, and altogether, unpredictable as to where the hell it’s going to go next. That’s what I always like to see in my crime movies, actually, just movies in general. Good review Alex.

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    1. Yeah that's for sure - all of the actors here completely go all in, and have a blast doing it. They definitely made the movie worth it.

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  3. It was always going to be a challenge to live up to In Bruges (my favorite '08 film). I really liked Psychopaths, but it seemed as though McDonagh was trying too hard to be funny and different this time. Some of the laughs and the strange deviations of the script felt forced. It was good, but not great.

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    1. Yeah, I agree with you perfectly. Living up to the Bruges hype wasn't going to be easy, but there is just too much going on here.

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  4. Sorry you didn't like it more, it's one of my most anticipated this year. I wish I could take Gustav, he loves Shih Tzus - one time he was so excited to see one, he peed while running towards it.

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    1. Yeah, I'm not too jazzed about it, but it definitely isn't a waste of your time, by any means. You should TOTALLY sneak Gustav in and let him watch! That'd be so funny.

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    2. I would but he is very loud :D Plus gigantic Shih Tzu on the screen would probably scare him ^^

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    3. Aww, well we certainly don't want him scared and peeing everywhere. Ha.

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  5. I thought it was pretty good though not as good as In Bruges. I love a lot of the performances although I felt disappointed by the lack of screentime that Abbie Cornish and Olga Kurylenko got as I was thinking they would get meaty roles based on the posters.

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    1. I was really surprised by the lack of screentime for Cornish and Kurylenko as well. Just pretty faces to help get dudes in the theater. Shame.

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  6. The fact that such a great cast is doing a comedy has me already intrigued and ready to go see in cinemas. Great review Alex!

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    1. Thanks! It has the same type of absurdist humor mixed with dead serious drama as In Bruges, only not quite as effective, in my opinion. Hope you dig it!

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  7. Oh no! B-? I thought you would have liked it more than a borderline average score. I really loved it. I didn't think the humor was forced or the script tried too hard. Oh well.

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    1. This is one that I enjoyed wholeheartedly in the moment, but was eagerly waiting for it to be done in its final minutes. It was just a tad too much for me. But yeah, oh well!

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  8. I am really looking forward to this movie, though I don't expect it to be one of my all-time favorites. I went into In Bruges not really expecting to like it, and I loved it. Though, who am I kidding? Even if that film had sucked, I would've watched it just for the scenery.

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    1. Ha no doubt, In Bruges was an awesome movie, and awesome to look at too.

      Seven Psychopaths certainly isn't bad, but the kind of flick that I highly doubt I remember come Top 10 time.

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  9. Didn't like In Bruges at all, but I'm still really excited for this. Great review!

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    1. Oh that's interesting...as someone who didn't like In Bruges, I'll be really curious to hear what you think about this one.

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