Review of Seven Psychopaths (2012) by Dom E — 17 Nov 2013

*THE OFFICIAL BETTER THAN DRIVE SEAL*.

It's hard to talk about everyone in this film so I'll keep it to the main characters. First of all Sam Rockwell is pretty near manically brilliant in his role. He is all over the place as a hyper disturbed psychopath. He speaks so quickly and is so vibrant in his role that he almost carries the movie. Colin Farrell also does a good job in a subtle quiet role for him. He's like the straight man to everyone's manic characters in the movie. Farrell and Rockwell play off of each other so well that they have the best chemistry in the film. Christopher Walken is...well Christopher Walken and I mean that in the best possible way. He is just out and out himself without being over the top or overly dramatic. He has some good lines and some great scenes and he is perfect in his part. Certainly some of the best scenes are those with the three of them together. Who better to play a raving insane madman mobster than Woody Harrelson? He does what he does very well. Considering how vital his character is and how obvious his involvement is to a movie aptly titled, they don't use him as much as I would have thought. The supporting cast are all very familiar faces for the most part and they do well enough in small roles.

I can admit that the film has a distinctive artistic quality. I'm sure a film student could dissect this movie and list a dozen reasons why its "brilliant." It feels like that kind of movie. It is smart and its well written but I think poorly edited for the mainstream crowd. I don't consider myself an idiot and I love all types of movies...if you look at my reviews I think you will see I literally will watch just about anything but I really struggled with this. It has a style that I just don't think I completely understand. I won't tell anyone not to watch this or even that it was a bad film. Quite the opposite. It had some really good performances, and was a dark definitive gritty psychotic comedy that would appeal to some. For me, I thought it was far too long and too complex with too many story arcs that don't feel quite complete hence my rating. Bizarre at times, ambles along and perhaps too quirky for its own good.

Marty (Colin Farrell) is a struggling screen writer, who can't seem to get his screenplay 'Seven Psychopaths' finished. He isn't getting much help from his dimwit friends Billy (Sam Rockwell) and Hans (Christopher Walken), who kidnap dogs, then return them to the owners to collect the reward. But things go haywire when they kidnap a mutt belonging to gangster Charlie (Woody Harrelson.).

Five years on, In Bruges is still hailed as one of the great, cult comedy films of recent times, Martin McDonaugh's sharp, witty comedy caper earning him an undying recognition among film connoissuers, with it's sparkling dialogue and intelligent screenplay. So four years on, this reunion with lead star Colin Farrell would be best approached not with the hope of repeating that success, but hopefully just being a comic cracker all on it's own. McDonaugh has undoubtedly given himself a set up with enormous potential and the capability for things to work. Sadly, this time round he's gone and made a right pig's ear of it.

Somehow, the film's tone and sense of cohesion feel wrong and it's lost your interest about half an hour in. McDonaugh displays the same disregard for political correctness and boundaries that he did in IB, perhaps even pushing the boat out even further here with shock value and dark, taboo subject matter, outrageously presented in a tongue in cheek style, but without a decent story to guide it, it fails to live up to the IB standard. I have said the film shouldn't be compared too much to that film and just be viewed in it's own right, but inevitably parallels will be drawn and they're not good. By the end, it's just become one long bore, that doesn't even have the decency (but certainly the self indulgence) to finish as the end credits roll.

4/10.