Martin McDonagh is something of an acquired taste but he’s highly regarded as a playright and screenwriter, and In Bruges was one of the best films of 2008. This was a different, less absurdist, film from that ans Seven Psychopaths, but I thiught the writing was excellent, harkening to a Fargo-era Coen Brothers. And I just realized Frances McDormand is in both films, albeit in very different foles, which is in part why they feel so similar.
Stranger
Pretty much exactly what my reactions was, although I knew roughly what the plot was going to be about. I was expecting to like it, and it ended up exceeding my expectations. Fantastic film.
I just watched this movie last night. I thought it was outstanding. Such excellent performances from the entire cast. And the script grapples with many tensions within contemporary American culture, in particular violence and racism. Sometimes it can take an outsider (Martin McDonagh, a non-American) to get to the heart of what is really happening in a country. Bolstered, of course, by those fine performances.
I certainly do not think that violence (including police brutality) and racism were made light of. They were the ever present notes, constantly there, at any moment ready to erupt. Dixon’s speech about “people of color torturing” was a brilliant example of the sort of person I seem to encounter daily. He knows the right language to use, he knows to pay lip service to the idea that racism is A Very Bad Thing, but that doesn’t actually alter his core racist beliefs (or his conviction that torturing suspects is par for the course).
Another brilliant scene: when Mildred’s ex-husband (an ex-cop, not coincidentally) came to her house and ended up attacking her. The son intervenes, and then they are interrupted by the new girlfriend. But what I thought brilliant and heartbreaking about the scene was the reaction of all the characters after the violence was over. The son and ex-husband right the table that was overturned, and they all just go on about their day. It struck me as saying so much about domestic violence, which is often exactly like this: it becomes so ordinary for the people involved that they don’t even realize how poisonous the environment is.
There were a few scenes I didn’t care for, but overall I found it an extremely strong and compelling film.
I took that scene very differently, as using their reaction afterward (and the entry of the pregnant girlfriend) as a comedic moment. I doubt even most defenders of the film would deny that was all played for comedy.
McDonagh plays comedy and tragedy as two sides of a coin. Much like the Coen Brothers, he often finds high comedy in grotesque violence like a guy being shot in the eye or the vengeance of a psychopath, and tragedy in “comedic” things like how midgets are treated like children or the pointless and unnecessary beating of the billboard agency guy by Sam Rockwell’s racist, violent police officer.
Stranger
The entrance of the girlfriend was certainly a comic interlude and I appreciate McDonagh’s use of the comic throughout a very dark, bleak film. However, the overall scene, including the violence of the ex-husband and the nonchalant reaction afterward, was not played for laughs in any way, according to my reading of the film.
Just saw the film on the plane and really loved it. It was excellent.
I agree about the Abbie Cornish character’s accent. Totally out of place. How would Chief Willoughby have met and married an Australian woman in rural Missouri? Sure, it could happen, but it just served as an unnecessary distraction in the film. I found myself trying to think back to earlier in the film to remember whether they said anything about Willoughby being abroad, studying in a big city, etc. Just doesn’t fit.
Recently finished watching TBOEM. Extremely powerful, well-acted, and all-around extremely well-done film. I can see where all of the accolades are coming from. This is definitely one of my top 5 favorite films from 2017. However, it’s not perfect.
Note there are SPOILERS below - I don’t know how to insert spoiler tags on this board, or if it’s even possible. So, if you haven’t seen the film & want to be genuinely surprised, please stop reading:
The film definitely captured the insular, small-town mentality that I’ve seen in so many parts of the U.S. - i.e., a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business, etc.
My favorite scene was one that hasn’t been discussed much: When the priest went to visit Mildred Hayes (near the beginning) to try to get her to pull down the three billboards. However, instead of caving in, it was nice to see Mildred - in no uncertain terms - tell him off & compare the priesthood to a “gang” who stick together after one of them commits a heinous crime. And then, told him to get the #% out of her kitchen! Fantastic scene! I myself find organized religion hypocritical - for the most part. So, it’s nice to see when one of these people get taken down a notch (even though it’s just in a fictitious film).
I actually found Sam Rockwall’s character of LE officer Jason Dixon disturbingly realistic. Just watch the news & you’ll see evidence of people like that every day. The scene when he beat up that innocent sign maker, threw him out the window (which could easily have killed him or maimed him permanently) and then punched the female employee was heinous. The fact that he just got fired as a result of this was typical - these people in authority are always getting away with doing things like this & then getting a slap on the wrist as punishment. I.e., he got off easy - given the severity of what he did. What a P.O.S. scum-bag. Just because he tried to help Mildred later (by getting himself beaten up so he could get DNA of someone he mistakenly believed had committed the crime) didn’t change what he had done earlier in the film - nor did it redeem his character.
It was interesting to me that many blamed Mildred Hayes for Chief Willoughby (Harrelson) killing himself. However, based on the suicide note he wrote his wife…and the note he wrote Mildred…I don’t see this as the reason. As he said in the note to his wife, he was very ill & didn’t want her to see him getting sicker & weaker. So, I feel he would have killed himself either way - even if the three billboards hadn’t been put up. Of course, this was lost on many of the close-minded people in the town who had their heads up their collective butts.
I found it realistic that the crime still hadn’t been solved by the end of the film. Because, IRL, many of these cases never get solved.
Agree with this. This is one of the elements I didn’t think made that much sense in the movie, but could almost be overlooked because the film was so well-done otherwise. That being said, a possible explanation could have been that they met online & she came to the US to get married to him. I’ve heard of things like this happening - so it is plausible - maybe.
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Your spoiler goes here
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and it comes out like this:
Your spoiler goes here
How did you make that visible?
ETA: I think this is an open spoiler thread, right?
If you use NOPARSE tags, then tags are ignored. If you hit the QUOTE button under my post you’ll see how it works.
Aha—neat!