Yet Mudbound - a film that doubles down on the misery, complete with arguably equivalent performances in terms of talent and caliber - feels like the less consequential film, in my opinion. When Three Billboards presents itself as a comedy (dark as it is) and proceeds to balance genuinely amusing scenes with an unpredictable story, you can find yourself affirming its blunt take on 2017 America. This is a serious epic, Mudbound, and it’s faint in its hopeful summation.
The new Netflix film, Mudbound, which is another Oscar contender, gets under the skin for the same reasons, but heightened by the sheer drama of its presentation. We both enjoyed the surprising arc had by Sam Rockwell’s character, a fascinating study in redemption that will surely and perhaps rightfully annoy critics of softened, vulnerable bigotry, though others will appreciate the attempt at humanization without glorification (Rockwell at no point is presented as a hero).Ĭoincidentally, I watched another film that tapped into this cultural pressure point not long after seeing Three Billboards. It’s hard to watch at times, not for any disgusting reasons, but because of the normalization displayed when it comes to race, homophobia, and frankly realistic attitudes one will find in just about any small town in America, let alone Missouri. After all, she didn’t hesitate to call it “gnarly.” What were we waiting for?ĭespite all this pressure to deliver a knockout review and impress Brian’s girlfriend via text message, we both came up short. At one point, Brian pulled out his phone to find out his girlfriend had seen Three Billboards at the same time as us, but about 40 miles away near where she lives, and it was at this precise moment that we both felt obligated to start articulating our opinion. To be honest, neither of us had anything particularly compelling to say, so the conversation drifted to weekend plans and how our loved ones are doing.
I watched this film with a good friend (we’ll call him Brian), and after the credits, we walked outside the theater for a few minutes to talk about what we had seen. And it’s not concerned with what you think about it. But like a short story, Three Billboards feels intended to pass you by without offering resolution.
It’s a dark comedy you’ll hear heavy praise about in the coming awards season due to its perfected dialogue written by director Martin McDonagh and how much of a thrill it is to watch Frances McDormand process anger in a movie about flawed people desperate for justice.
In a strange way, Three Billboards is like a short story. Just as look at Disney and Pixar: Tangled, Frozen, Up, Coco. For whatever reason, short stories lend themselves nicely to intriguing “sentence titles,” while novels and movies typically go for the short punch. A lot of contemporary short stories have this stylistic flair, like a recent one I enjoyed called The Shape of the Darkness As It Overtakes Usby Dimas Ilaw. On the one hand, this title reminds me of the suggestive power found in names of short stories. Brilliant to some, maddening to others, the film has become a lightning rod for its depiction of American life.Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is the actual name of a prestige film in 2017. It has also received seven Oscar nods, including one for best picture and three in acting: for Frances McDormand as the justice-seeking mother for Woody Harrelson as the small-town police chief and for Sam Rockwell as a racist, thuggish officer.Īs with most of McDonagh’s work, “Three Billboards” is ultimately about posturing, as the grieving mother and the local cops back themselves into separate corners over the unsolved murder of a teenage girl. His third feature, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” has similar dark-comic underpinnings, but it tones down the laughs and expands the moments of quiet pathos.
When the playwright Martin McDonagh began writing and directing movies, his first two features, “In Bruges” and “Seven Psychopaths,” were brutal but hilarious stories about hard-up criminals and lovable losers. Sign up for our thrice-weekly newsletter here.
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