Seven Psychopaths

This is no second In Bruges, but the rest is something I didn’t expect. McDonagh has swapped a smart black-humour tale of human nature and honour for a postcultural uncensored romp a bit in the vein of Pulp Fiction, expanded it with a few racy story detours, and included some memorable characters who can really ruin your life if you mess with them. But Seven Psychopaths has a couple of things in common with In Bruges. First of all, it's the absolutely great cast, including the traditionally unstable Farrell, the peculiar Sam Rockwell, who was probably unintentionally the biggest star of the film, the psychopathic gangster Woody Harrelson, who’s capable of anything for his little dog, and my favourite, Christopher Walken, who once again shows that he doesn't belong to the old guard yet. And then, of course, is McDonagh's brilliant direction, which gives each shot a fresh touch and somehow mysteriously manages to bring a certain amount of humanity to a purely absurd narrative, and to make the viewer feel invested in the fate of the heroes. The last star escaped because of the ending, where the actions of some of the characters were too cinematic and incomprehensible (this was also true In Bruges, but presented in an unforgettable and cinematically imaginative way). Though it's true that the moment Rockwell recounted the dream final shootout by the fire, I had no doubt about the full rating. In any case, McDonagh scores strongly again and given that he is still relatively young, we certainly have more to look forward to from him in the future. 4.5* (01/19/2013)

Somehow I naively thought this would be a chillout movie. What I didn’t expect was that the originality would trump any consistency of the movie, and as a result, I had no idea what to think of it at all. Seven Psychopaths is a weird movie.  It’s full of great ideas, but it is hard to get into the story. Colin Farrell is the only relatively normal character in the world of Seven Psychopaths, and it felt as if he was somehow invisible in his role. It’s an irony that a man who is recovering from drinking then plays an old Irish alcoholic. I hope that this label won’t stick with him till his death. (04/25/2013)

“Psychopaths sell like hotcakes,” Joe Gills said sixty years ago. It’s evident that Hollywood’s affection for psychopaths has only grown since then. Seven Psychopaths is an original postmodern pun (the only film I can think to compare it to is Kitano’s Sonatine) about which probably no one can offer better commentary than Martin McDonagh, who does so through the mouths of his characters. The film’s main value added, the ceaseless self-reflective revealing of the rules according to which films about psychopaths (i.e. a significant part of American cinema) function, raises doubts about how seriously the serious moments should be taken. Whereas In Bruges was gripping as both an existential drama and a brutal black-humour thriller, Seven Psychopaths doesn’t stick around long enough in either genre for the scenes to have a proper emotional effect. The transitions from serious etudes on the topic of “I kill people, but otherwise I’m also human” to gore farce are smooth and the actors play their roles in just the right way that you sympathise with them a little, laugh at them a bit and kind of want to kill them. However, these transitions are constant and sometimes are obviously added in only so that the film doesn’t just go with the flow and come across as ordinary. A drop of normality in this ocean of madness could serve well as evidence that the film’s creator means something seriously and as an emotional point of reference that elevates the film above the level of an evening’s entertainment. However, this is still first-rate entertainment of the with many levels and boasting one of the best (multi)genre screenplays since Inglourious Basterds. 80% (11/28/2012)

In Bruges was more magical, more atmospheric and more cohesive, but I have a weak spot of weird meta stuff like this. Brutality, black humour, a psychopath at every turn and constant self reflection through the character of the screenwriter, Marty (an excellent Farrell, compensating for this year’s pointless Total Recall), and his script of Seven Psychopaths. Yeah, the film’s protagonist is writing the script of the film where he’s acting. That says everything. On the one hand, it’s a bit like covering your own ass (anything can happen and everything can be explained). On the other, it’s a chance to unleash the screenwriters and have fun writing and filming something original. Which to a greater extent they did successfully. McDonagh is awesome. (12/01/2012)

Ow! Pity half the budget was crippled by the dermatology clinic taking care of the director/screenwriter's foreskin, which was in a really underwhelming state when the script was finished, and thus the characters have to be transported to the desert for the rest of the film, where they practically just talk to each other like in some French film. I love filmmakers who try to convince me all the time that they're better than everyone else, and giving McDonagh American money to make another movie might start some kind of war. Meta-meta-meta-methadone. (07/15/2013)