Day 46 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,
Missouri [2017]
Screenplay Martin McDonagh
Director Martin
McDonagh
Cinematography Ben
Davis
Music Carter
Burwell
Leads Frances McDormand,
Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Peter Dinklage, John Hawkes, Caleb Landry Jones,
Lucas Hedges
Production Blueprint Pictures, Fox
Searchlight Pictures, Film4 Productions, Cutting Edge Group
IMDb 8.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes 93%
I’ll start by saying I was ever so slightly
disappointed by this one. My incredibly few readers will probably all disagree
with me, but I wholly believe this could have been better. Not by much, but it
could have been. I have been following the production of it for a while as I’ve
wanted a job at Blueprint for ages. I also love McDonagh although my favourite
of his is not the infamous In Bruges, but rather his short film Six
Shooter which won an Academy Award back in 2006. This film is all about a
mother (Frances McDormand) who is fighting for justice in a small town in
Missouri, as the rapist-murderer of her daughter has not been found. McDormand
is world-class and deserves her Golden Globe (and likely Academy Award). She is
tough, yet tender. Powerfully defiant in the faces of authority, and then
suddenly weak when confronted by a man claiming to be her daughter’s potential
killer. I also thought Sam Rockwell was hilarious for a character we are
supposed to hate. He is stupid, racist and who knows how he became a cop, but
he has an epiphany of sorts after the death of the chief of police (Harrelson).
This was one reason I didn’t like the film, we are made to like (or at least
forgive) a character who in real life I would despise to my core, no matter how
much good he did in the end. This was problematic. Another thing I would
criticise is the speed of it. I felt it was quite slow at times, it wasn’t
building tension, it was just slow. Perhaps they had one eye on the award
ceremonies. The whole post-death narration from Harrelson also helped put the
brakes on. Overall, yes, it’s a quality film, but a few things threw it astray
for me. I think also it was a case of wanting to see it for so long that I was
expecting too much. Go watch it, but it’s not going in the Hall of Film by any
means.
Acting 4
/ 4
Writing 3
/ 4
Cinematography 3
/ 4
Music 2.5
/ 4
HWF rating 3 / 4