Seven Psychopaths

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I don't often use the word perfect, but when I do, it's necessary! I've been following this film for some time now and spreading the word, trying to get as many of my friends to watch it when they get the chance and, low and behold, they are raving in approval. 'In Bruges' writer and director Martin McDonagh returns with possibly the most perfectly written, directed, filmed and acted movie that I have had the pleasure of watching in years. I say this even though I cannot compare it to the last allegedly perfect movie I saw, because goddamn it, it can't be compared. It is in a league of its own and as a true original. Marty (Colin Farrell) is an Irish scriptwriter in LA, constantly hung over, treading on eggshells around his girlfriend and hanging around with his neurotic dog-kidnapping best friend Billy. Unable to find the inspiration he needs to start his new script, aptly titled the same as the film, he is thrust into a deadly situation of unbelievable magnitude. Billy (Sam Rockwell) and his elderly friend Hans (Christopher Walken) have kidnapped the cute cuddly Shih Tzu of psycho gangster Charlie (Woody Harrelson), who will have his dog back at all costs. At the same time, saving Marty and Hans' lives before a pair of mob goons can find out the whereabout of the dog, vigilante mafia boss killer 'The Jack of Diamonds' executes the gansgters and spares the two men, who decide to grab Billy and head for the hills. But never mind wondering what he's going to do when Charlie comes back for his dog, Marty has yet to find the inspiration for his script closer to home than he has been looking as both Billy and Hans turn out to be two completely different breeds of psychopath. Without spoiling it, this film is not your run of the mill loony comedy. That's just a consistently underlying theme throughout the entire movie. What it's really about is the importance and meaning of life to many individuals and what separates the psychopaths from the seemingly ordinary folk. What was most fascinating about Seven Psychopaths is that there is more wisdom, emotional longing, vulnerability and personality in each psychopath than there is in the presumably mentally stable characters. We know they're crazy and dangerous almost from the offset but at the same time, we - and also Marty - cannot help but feel endeared towards them. So what we really have is a crime drama that is up to its ears in hilarious comedy, tragedy and deep meaning, and this to me is perfect enough before the style and the powerhouse acting takes it graciously towards the end credits. This film boasts a genius example of ideal ensemble casting which also includes an awesome turn by music legend and actor Tom Waits as Zachariah. It's also nice to see Abbie Cornish, Kevin Corrigan and Harry Dean Stanton supporting. But OH MY GOD, Christopher Walken's best in years, Sam Rockwell's best in years and Woody Harrelson's best in years. You can thank the amazing writing and cinematography but the leads do so well with their own individual and collective roles that I was captivated from beginning to end and had to watch it twice within a few short days. Excellent, through and through, go own it on DVD and never let go!

And that would be Martin McDonagh, the writer/director. Listless and predictable, once in a great while mildly funny, it would be unwatchable except for a terrific cast. I wanted to love this movie because of the actors. But the poor editing and stupid screenplay gave Walken et al not much to do but mug. There is so much grimacing, so many exaggerated facial tics - perhaps McDonagh thinks this is the fastest way to say "crazy" - that the characters feel more like the Three Stooges with heavy weapons than real lunatics. Walken, always the more clever actor and a master at stealing a scene, chooses to mostly stare straight ahead while Farrell and Rockwell, who appear to be competing at The Jim Carrey Make-A-Face Festival, are making fools of themselves - and steals the entire movie. And what is the point of the brutal treatment and heavy-handed objectifying of the women? What's with the extremely offensive scene with Gabourey Sidibe? Odd that Sidibe and Woody Harrelson would agree to such a cruel and disturbing scene. That scene really did seem to come from the mind of a psychopath.

With the release of this film; Hollywood has claimed its latest casualty in Martin McDonagh—writer and director of award winning British comedy, In Bruges. Seven Psychopaths is a parody of McDonagh's life as a screenwriter; tasked to develop content for a new movie titled (no prize for guessing) "Seven Psychopaths". It begins with handsome alcoholic; Marty Faranon (Colin Farrell) living in his cosy, sunlit property overlooking the coast of Santa Monica. But all is not fine and dandy in Marty's life--writer's block. With a looming deadline; best friend and unemployed actor Billy Bickle (Sam Rockwell) steps in to help, hoping to provide inspiring material for Marty's research. And it is this desire to produce compelling drama for the script, that predates a string of crass and horrifying murders that Billy orchestrates for the rest of this film. As if bizarre motivation for a killing spree; the twists and turns that follow aren't ridiculous enough to throw us in for a vapid loop... enter Billy's involvement in a crime syndicate that kidnaps doggies for cash rewards. To complicate things EVEN further; Billy abducts Bonny The Shih Tzu-- prized possession of psychopathic mobster Charlie Costello (Woody Harrelson), who subsequently vows revenge. It would have been possible to examine the merits of this film's originality; and McDonagh's attempt to infuse a dose of situational parody without comparisons to metafilm, Adaptation. But awkward smugness involved in Seven Psychopath's jibes (at Hollywood's political correctness about animal cruelty and misogyny) border on too much intellectual tripe for it to work. The witty verisimilitude required to pull off such a stunt, is sorely missing. Seven Psychopaths also toils for slacker-stoner hyperbole with baffling results. Save twelve dollars and wait for it to air on TV. cinemainterruptus.wordpress.com

That is the beginning of an ad in LA weekly placed by Billy Bickle, the best friend of the main protagonist Marty, who is a screenwriter with writer's block. He only has a title for his next movie. That title is "Seven Psychopaths". Billy Bickle is an unemployed actor who with another friend Hans kidnaps dogs and returns them and collects the reward. Unfirtunately, Billy kidnaps a wrong dog, a dog belonging to a gangster Charlie who loves his dog more than anything in the world and he wants him back no matter how many dead bodies he will leave behind. Billy also wants to help his friend Marty to write the screenplay by any means necessary. This all sets in motion a series of unfortunates events which are so otherworldly dark humored, violent and very funny. The director and screenwriter Martin McDonagh, is the true psychopath here. His genius seamlessly combined violence and humor in a way you have never seen. I was laughing at things I would not believe I would ever laugh at for example exploding heads and other messy stuff. This is actually a very self-aware comedy. It toys with conventions of the crime and action genres, such as the typical "final shoot-out" that comprises the third act of most crime and action films. Although Marty doesn't want his film to be the typical film with "guys and guns and blood". He wants it to be something more meaningful - about life. He instead decides his characters will drive out into the desert and have "real, human conversations." In the film itself, the characters decide to do exactly that – Marty, Billy and Hans drive out into the desert, and they talk. But not that all the fun would stop in the desert, that's where it all begins. Script is written in such a way that it makes fun of itself, one of the characters says something along the lines that the female characters in Marty's screenplay are horrible and not very developed, in the film itself women have very little screen time and are very quickly disposed of. Martin McDonagh assembled quite a glorious cast: Colin Farrell gives one of his best performances in previous McDonagh's film In Bruges and he does that again. Farrell just gives amazing performances when working with a fellow Irishman. Sam Rockwell simply steals the film for himself. He is just brilliant, he is just indescribably awesome. Please just give him all the awards you can for this film. Christopher Walken... well he is playing Christopher Walken, but he is one of the few men on Earth who can make audience laugh just by simply being on screen. Woody Harrelson has proved before that he can be terrifying or funny and oddball character. Here he equally mixes all these ingredients into one amazing character. Throughout the film Marty says he doesn't want typical Hollywood film with shooting, blood and exploding heads. He wants a film about life. A film which makes you laugh and at the end it makes you cry. Unexpectedly he accomplishes this almost unattainable goal and brings us the best film of 2012 and one of the best film of all time. Thank you very much for this fun film experience, Martin McDonagh.

Well I'm gonna push my English to the limits to try and express the wonderful feeling I am still savoring. It is all about pieces coming together perfectly in this movie for me. The plot, THE ACTING, the dialogs, the settings etc. Very shortly after beginning of the movie I had gotten the sensation of being in the presence of a perfectly balanced yet joyfully spontaneous story that allowed me the feeling of a real life playing out in front of me however incongruous it might seem. We all search for this in books and movies the story that would just pick us up and take us along on an exciting ride. So few can do that. Immersion isn't that what gives us the most joy in life. Do not expect anything from this movie