Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Starring Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, John Hawkes

Directed by Martin McDonagh

The Story:
A few months ago, Mildred Hayes' (Frances McDormand) daughter Angela was brutally raped and murdered, but the case went cold, and she wasn't getting any answers.  Struggling with the grief and anger, she purchased three billboards on a desolate road and put up three messages for the police department, asking why no one has solved the case. This draws the ire of Sheriff Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), and especially his racist deputy officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell).  While Willoughby tries to find a more calming solution, Dixon goes off the handle and threatens Mildred and anyone else he feels responsible for the billboards.  The media is drawn to the billboards, and the light is again shed on Angela's case, but the tension between Mildred, the police, and the townspeople is also escalated, leading to shocking events and abhorrent acts of violence on both sides.

The Synopsis:
Director Martin McDonagh has produced some of the best underrated films in recent memory, especially "Seven Psychopaths" and "In Bruges," but "Three Billboards" is easily his crowning achievement.  It's not a typical Hollywood-style film where the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, anger is just a simple emotion that can be easily expressed and dealt with.  Here, the emotions are real, the characters are flawed - yet open for redemption - and you feel like you're really witnessing the torture that Mildred goes through as if she's a real person.  That's the excellent script that McDonagh penned, one of the most well-thought-out, deeply emotional, movingly powerful scripts to be shown on screen in years.

There's certain movies where you can predict everything that's going to happen, and that's a real shame.  There's no nuance, no intelligence, no vitality to the script at all, and the actors just go through the motions for a paycheck.  Here, you can't predict a single thing that happens, because the script ebbs and flows in twisting, winding ways that provides life to the viewer as it totally wrecks the characters on screen.  We're drawn to the film in a deeply visceral way where, even in the seemingly slower moments, we can't take our eyes off the screen.

What's great about this film - and also profoundly tragic - is that life isn't fair.  It isn't fair that a mother outlives her daughter.  It isn't fair that a young life can be taken so violently.  It isn't fair that there's no simple answers.  It isn't fair that life deals you cards you cannot play.  These characters experience all these unfair moments - and more - throughout the film, with no clear resolutions.  While you may think the film will focus on finding Angela's killer since the billboards have given new life to the case, you'd be sourly mistaken.  Instead, while the billboards do re-ignite desire for the case, it's more about the lives of the characters still living and how it changes them.

McDonagh brings in the best in the business to bring these characters to life, and from the standout performances by McDormand, Rockwell, and Harrelson (the last two he also directed in "Seven Psychopaths") to the lesser seen characters, each one delivers a raw, powerful performance that adds to the entirety of the picture.  John Hawkes plays Mildred's ex-husband, who portrayed his grief by dumping his wife and bedding nineteen-year-old Penelope (Samara Weaving, who steals the scene as the ultimate dimwit girl).  Peter Dinklage plays James, who shows romantic interest in Mildred yet also is deeply flawed and emotional.  Abbie Cornish plays Anne, Bill Willoughby's wife, who has to shoulder life being the wife of a sheriff.  Lucas Hedges (the new indy-film darling, who also starred in the fantastic "Manchester by the Sea" and "Lady Bird") plays Mildred's son Robbie, who struggles with having an outspoken mother and also personally dealing with the drama behind her.  Caleb Landry Jones plays Red, who runs the billboard company and receives the unwanted ire of Dixon.  Each of these smaller parts are equally moving and powerful, and help add to the tremendous performances of the three main leads.

As Sheriff Willoughby, Woody Harrelson gives the most nuanced performance.  As he is explicitly indicted on the billboards as not finding the killer, he shows such restraint and dedication to actually finding Angela's killer, and using the billboards as a way to re-ignite the case.  Even though he's dealing with a deeply personal tragedy, he shows the most humanity on the police force in helping Mildred solve the cold case.

Sam Rockwell has been known for playing more a hero-type character (especially in his underrated film "Moon"), but here he plays the ultimate sleazy character, a man of the law who has no problems beating up African American people simply due to their color, and lazily yelling racist slurs to any type of minority.  He holds himself in a cocky, arrogant way that isn't deserved to his character, since he still lives at home with his mother (Sandy Martin, in another amazing performance) and spent years in the police academy because of his failing grades.  He is the epitome of the type of person who's the scum of the earth, but once he experiences any type of real power, thinks he's king of the world.  Yet, even with that, he is not above redemption, as the billboards change his life as dramatically as it does everyone else, and his performance will be greatly deserving of an Oscar.

Speaking of Oscar, the little golden guy might be resting on the mantle at Frances McDormand's home (along her other one, which she won for "Fargo").  Unequivocally, this film is all hers, and she owns it like the professional actress she is.  While she delivers stirring monologues (especially towards the priest who visits her, expressing her disdain for the Catholic faith), she gives even more emotional performances through her expressions.  Her steely gaze would make the mightiest man crumble.  Her crumpled up, wrinkly face shows the deep anger and grief she is experiencing on the inside.  Her smirk shows that she is getting through to the right people.  Yet all these outer expressions hide the deep turmoil she's experiencing on the inside, facing the tragic, untimely, violent death of her daughter and also processing the last words she said to her (which wasn't pleasant).  The rare moments she does break down is absolutely gut-wrenching, especially when she interacts with a deer she sees while placing flowers under the billboards.  Still, she also balances her tragedy with dark humor, especially after Willoughby questions her after accosting the dentist, while she's still numb from Novocaine.

Even though we feel for Mildred and the pain she goes through, she's not above reproach.  She partakes in events that are not only illegal, but could prove deadly to others.  While we admire her steely resolve and never-give-up attitude, sometimes her methods go far beyond what is acceptable.  This is why the script is so amazing - it doesn't paint any specific character as a stock character for emotional reactions, but instead uses the emotions to drive them to do things that seem reprehensible.

The Summary:
Providing one of the most through-provoking scripts in years, Martin McDonagh provides one of the most powerful films, rounded out by a stellar cast, and proving that not every event is cut-and-dry.

The Score: A+