Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: Review
Director: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Frances
McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson
From the writer-director of In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths it is only
to be expected that Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is the paragon of dark comedy.
The premise of a grieving mother of a rape victim, seeking justice doesn’t sing
laugh riot, but McDonagh readily achieves this through pithy dialogue and
flawed but engaging characters. Mildred is a thick-skinned woman, who having
faced her fair share of adversities has hardened into a relentless force whom
causes a great deal of strife to the police in order to get answers. As most of
the town turns against her we cannot help but experience intense feelings of
catharsis as she commits acts one would usually find deplorable; drilling a hole
in a dentist’s thumb comes to mind. McDormand portrays Mildred with composure
and wisdom, giving her a stony-hearted nature, and this makes her moments of sincerity
even more touching, for example, an endearing moment when she flicks cereal at her son across the table.
Another standout performance is that of Sam Rockwell as the inadequate and
racist police officer Dixon. Still living with his ‘Mama’, Dixon is
small-minded and inept, and while Willoughby is more patient and reasonable with
Mildred, Dixon is reckless in his pursuit to have the billboards removed. He is
often seen as bungling and dim-witted as a cop - arguably his foolishness is
sometimes a little obnoxiously played up for comedy – but a moment of harrowing
violence in which he throws the billboard proprietor out of a window, reminds
us that Dixon is unpredictable and hot-headed. Despite his being an
antagonistic opponent for the most part of the film, Dixon becomes a more
piteous character who redeems himself as poignant words from Willoughby inspire
him to become a focused cop. Rockwell exudes pathos in his performance that
turns the character around entirely, and when his efforts in solving the Hayes
case are realised as futile, a pang of sympathy is felt for him.
The narrative of Three Billboards is meticulously orchestrated so that
it is patient with its numerous reveals, but never slow. It is packed with punchy
twists and turns, each one methodically planted, whether it is the realisation that,
for his own amusement, Willoughby paid a month’s rent on the billboards to
cause more trouble for Mildred, or when it is revealed that it was the abusive
ex-husband who vandalised the billboards, and not the police as Mildred had
assumed. There has been a certain amount of contention regarding the end of the
movie, some finding the untied ends to be infuriating, however, this is not a ‘whodunnit’
story, and we do not invest ourselves so deeply into it for the solving of the
crime. It is the journey of the characters that makes this tale so enchanting,
and in that respect it is a faultless ending.
MS
MS
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