Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) / Animation-Adventure

MPAA Rated: R for violence, language throughout, and some sexual references
Running Time: 115 min.

Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones, Lucas Hedges, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, Abbie Cornish, Clarke Peters, Kerry Condon, Darrell Britt-Gibson
Director: Martin McDonagh
Screenplay: Martin McDonagh
Review published January 21, 2017

Frances McDormand (The Good Dinosaur, Transformers: Dark of the Moon) plays Mildred Hayes, a financially strapped grieving mother who decides to rent, after selling her ex-husband's tractor, the use of the titular three mostly dormant billboards on a rarely travelled road outside the (fictional) town of Ebbing, Missouri to raise awareness to that local police force, led by Chief Bill Willoughby (Harrelson, Wilson), still haven't found the culprits responsible for the rape and murder of her teenage daughter several months ago, and they don't seem to be doing much about it.  The billboards now read, in succession, "Raped While Dying?", "Still no arrests?", "How come, Chief Willoughby?"  Tensions flare among the police officers, as well as some of the local residents who support them rather than the terrible and tasteless messages, applying pressure to take the billboards down.  However, Mildred knows that the only way to see results is to keep applying the pressure right back.

Martin McDonagh writes and directs this potent darkly comic drama, bouncing back from the uneven Seven Psychopaths to get back to the promise he showed in his breakthrough film, In Bruges. Blending more mischievous characters in a powder-keg situation they seem to have little control over, Three Billboards is an acerbic look into the power of grief and loss in skewing our life trajectory, as the ripple effect soon turns into a tsunami when that process doesn't find a satisfactory outlet.  But these characters don't service the plot so much as the plot services these characters, who are nuanced enough to buy as ringing true, even if the situations around them are implausible and contrived from a logic standpoint. The nuance extends to the adversarial relationship between Mildred and Chief Willoughby, who butt heads, but the acting between McDormand and Harrelson shines through to suggest that there is a mutual admiration between these characters who aren't seeing eye to eye at the moment.

Bolstered by a forceful lead performance by McDormand, who plays Mildred with determination, but also with certain flaws that humanizes her in a way where she's not exactly righteous, and she knows it, even if she is on a crusade for justice she feels she is owed.  It is necessary for the character, who might otherwise come across as brash, profane and unlikeable, as we see that, underneath the tough exterior and her unquestionably destructive actions, she is vulnerable, emotional and broken.  McDonagh finds ways for these character to be able to breathe, taking time to reflect on each one's sense of connection and the spirit of the small town, rather than ratcheting up all of the thriller elements into something that is just caustic and cruel.  The investment pays great dividends as the story unfolds.

The film works better in its dramatic moments than its comedic, as the contrived attempts at humor ring obvious, and even some of the dramatic turns seem to strain credibility, especially in its acts of violence.  Outside of McDormand, I'm also not a great fan of some of the casting of the supporting actors in the film.  McDonagh favorite, Sam Rockwell (Poltergeist), seems too smart, shrewd and worldly an actor in demeanor to buy as Deputy Jason Dixon, a bumbling, belligerent, drunk, daft, and racist rural Missouri cop a brute who follows no discernible rule of law.  Still, McDonagh does a nice job in humanizing even this character, showing his relationship with the mother he still lives with, and providing details that his difficulties are mostly caused by his own lack of self-esteem or worth.

Though McDonagh still suffers from the occasional inconsistency in tone and tempering the comedy, drama, and brutal violence, Three Billboards still emerges as his most ambitious and satisfying film to date.  It maintains, then eases, then goes full bore on a sense of discomfort throughout that is palpable and drives enough tension to draw viewers into its peculiar situation and anticipate where the stories and characters go from there.  It's a film where everyone is at odds - though, once they're shaken up, they realize that, in some ways, they're all on the same page.  It's a film about grief, but also about the healing process, where confronting one's own buried feelings is ultimately what allows bullheaded individuals, and a contentious town, to move on.

Qwipster's rating:

©2018 Vince Leo