I think you missed something. Dixon calls Mildred to tell her the results of the DNA test, and later:
DIXON
I know he isn’t your rapist. He is a rapist, though. I’m sure of that.
MILDRED
What are you saying to me?
DIXON
Got his licence plate. I know where he lives.
MILDRED
Where does he live?
DIXON
Lives in Idaho.
MILDRED
That’s funny. I’m driving to Idaho in the morning.
DIXON
Want some company?
She didn’t know he was from Idaho. She decided she would be going to Idaho when Dixon told her that was where the guy was from. Whether they go through with the revenge plot or not is open to interpretation.
on google street view go to Main st. in Sylva NC. You can see the movie set there. Google car just happened to pass through during the filming. You can see the burned out police station building and the Ebbing newspaper building.
The Ebbing Herald is a bit east of there, as opposed to across the street.
Yeah, I gave this movie a very tepid thumbs up because after the first few minutes (when I almost punched out but kept going because of all the acclaim) I was reasonably entertained. But IMO it is absurd for this to get all the critical and award recognition it did, and to have been at one point the frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar. Srsly?
There are the problematic elements of making light of police brutality (including against black prisoners) and of domestic violence that made me uncomfortable, and the way Peter Dinklage’s character was treated (why did he even take this part?). And I’m one who often thinks “problematic” is trotted out way too easily, but here I think it was deserved.
There were plot holes described above, the weird shifts in tone, the characters who disappeared or had no point. Throughout, it would be unclear if we were even supposed to take any of it seriously, but then they would hit us with stuff you absolutely have to take seriously.
And McDonagh clearly doesn’t know rural heartland America—and neither do most of the critics and award voters, which is probably part of the disconnect. I lived for many years in rural Missouri, and I don’t recognize it in this movie. In that vein: I’m assuming that in Ireland, where Donagh lives, there is a more centralized national system of police or something like that? He portrays a situation where the local sheriff (or was it chief of police?) is no longer able to do the job, and a guy arrives from out of town who has been “assigned” to take over. Say what? If it was the chief of police, the mayor, city manager, or city council will decide on a replacement and in the meantime, name someone already on the police force to be the acting chief. If it’s the sheriff, that’s an elected position. Either way, you don’t just get “assigned” someone you’ve never heard of. That was a real WTF moment.
BTW, the people falling all over themselves praising McDormand in this role should really see the HBO miniseries “Olive Kittredge”. There are some similarities to the roles, but OK is much better overall and McDormand’s acting is more nuanced (in part because the character is written in a more nuanced way).
I’m curious about this now. McDonagh’s characters refer to Willoughby as “Chief” enough times, I’m assuming he’s the Chief of Police. Is there no way for the mayor, city manager, or city council to replace the chief with someone from outside the station? I’d interpreted the arrival of the new chief as a coup that was planned way ahead of time because of the racist incidents, maybe even by Willoughby himself (who definitely was a planner).
I just saw this movie this month on a flight.
I was very disturbed by the ending. It was not the lack of closure, it was the sudden change in direction. First, Dixon’s contrition and reinvention was far too abrupt and complete. Second, I could not believe that the two of them would team up to go murder someone based on a story he told in a bar. Dixon seemed to be convinced the man was guilty of something, and Mildred decided if she couldn’t bring her daughter’s killer to justice, she would bring *someone *to justice. As tough-as-nails as she was I just did not think she would cross the line to murder.
Whom did Mildred think she was calling when she phoned the police station just before she threw the Molotov cocktails? It was late at night, she couldn’t have expected Dixon to be there, and in fact couldn’t have expected anyone to be there. She seemed to be expecting someone to answer the phone, and when nobody did, she said, “Fuck it” or words to that effect, and started lobbing.
For all of Mildred’s energy and anger, why didn’t she go off to do her own investigation, or take that $5K and hire a private detective? She didn’t do the least little thing to contribute to finding her daughter’s killer. She expended a huge amount of effort in fighting the police chief and half the whole town in the process. That effort could have been channeled to something more productive.
Funny line but who is really that stupid? That was a cartoon character.
I am with you 100% on that. It was too pat. Really, that conversation wasn’t necessary to convey the guilt that Mildred felt. It might as well have been:
“I hope I get burned and raped and murdered and then the police can’t find the killer and then you harass the police chief until he commits suicide!”
“Oh, yeah, well I hope you get burned and raped and murdered and then the police can’t find the killer and then I harass the police chief until he commits suicide!”
Ever see Marathon Man?
I just watched the trailer and “outside” was spelled in all caps, so you can’t tell if the producers intended an o or an O.
Why do you say that “outside” must be uncapitalized? This is a matter of style. I do not know what the NYT style guide says but some guides say to capitalize anything longer than four letters, even if it’s a preposition.
In what way do you think the movie made light of police brutality and domestic violence? I thought it felt both shocking and real, but not light.
In the title appearing in the movie as written by the author, or as submitted to awards organizations, “outside” is not capitalized.
I realize this may seem nitpicky, but I think the author did this with the purpose of having viewers question it and maybe learn something and change their minds, so the spelling is an important part of the work.
Capitalization, not spelling (I can be nitpicky too). 
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There oughta be a law. :smack:
Watched it tonight. Not a fan.
Watched it tonight for the second time, and liked it even more than I did the first. The first time I was bothered by some of the plot points, but this time they didn’t matter, and all I got to do was wallow in some fine acting and direction.
Finally saw this and loved it. I didn’t really know anything about it when I watched it, so I was continually surprised by the escalations. At least half a dozen times I thought to myself “Well this is more hardcore than I was expecting.”
She was making sure nobody was in the building before she torched it. The “Fuck it!” line was her deciding that she would actually go through with it. Even though she had “confirmed” it was empty, torching a police station is crossing a pretty serious line. Fuck it, let’s do this.
Woody Harrelson’s character was not a rapist.
Just watched it on a flight. My first thought was “Damn, when did Woody Harrelson turn into an actor?”
I thought the acting was very good. But the writing? Ugh.
Since … forever?
First notable job: Woody on Cheers starting in 1985 as a quick replacement for Coach. Nominated for an Emmy for that in 1987 thru 1991 (and 1999!). Won in 1989.
Look at the long list of stuff he’s been nominated for.
Perhaps you’ve missed all of his memorable performances. Try The Edge of Seventeen, Zombieland, No Country for Old Men, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Natural Born Killers and a dozen other great things he’s done.