Review: Seven Psychopaths (2012)

★★★★★

Director: Martin McDonagh

Starring: Colin Farrel, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson

❝ YOU CAN'T LET THE ANIMALS DIE IN A MOVIE...ONLY THE WOMEN. ❞

Synopsis: Marty Faranan (Colin Farrel) is trying to write a screenplay called (surprise, surprise) Seven Psychopaths. His friend, Billy Bickle (Sam Rockwell) works with a man named Hans Kieslowski (Christopher Walken) to kidnap dogs and after a few weeks or so, return them to their owners to claim the reward money for 'finding' their lost pup. This all goes horribly wrong when Billy kidnaps a dog belonging to crazed psychopath Charlie Costello (Woody Harrelson) who will stop at nothing to get his precious Bonny back. Marty gets sucked into their world and lots of mayhem surrounding this unfinished screenplay and this adorable shih tzu follow.

This is a must see. Putting the screenplay in a film about the screenplay (stay with me here) was a smart way of showing the struggles and chaos that comes with writing a script. Marty is essentially Martin (the hint is in the name, obviously) showing us how he struggled with himself as a writer trying to be innovative and original without falling into typical cliches for the genre. At one point, Billy is offered to write a version of the screenplay and conforms to all the typical thriller-esque cliches - the bloody shootouts, the copious amounts of blood and death - basically any Tarantino film of late. There is a lot on what McDonagh feels about cinema and more about how he feels trying to be an alternative kind of action/thriller filmmaker. This film overall is a complete breath of fresh air. The characters are wonderfully three dimensional and complex, all played spectacularly well by the cast. My personal favourite was Tom Waits; in the short time he was on screen to tell his tale, he left a deep scar on the narrative. There are plenty of criticisms of the stereotypes of an action/thriller film in mainstream cinema here but it's not a harsh one. McDonagh is known for his twists and unconventional methods of storytelling since his well received debut In Bruges (2008), and Seven Psychopaths continues his experimentations of the bloody and messy world of this genre.