Written and directed by Martin McDonagh
You ever throw a bunch of firecrackers in a pile, light them at the same time, and watch it all go off in one great blaze, one firecracker’s pop and fire indistinguishable from the next? Then stand in the smoky ringing silence pondering how something can arrive with such fanfare and then be gone in an instant?
Seven Psychopaths, another machine gun-mouthed movie by Martin McDonagh, master of ratatat dialogue, is a blaze of profanity, violence, gore, absurdist theatre and wackjob characters, all colliding in a so-so story about a Hollywood screenwriter who gets a helping hand with his latest project from a peculiar friend whose methods of motivation are dubious at best.
You’ll meet a nervous alcoholic, a man who is chaos personified, a murderous mobster with an undying love for his Shih Tzu, a masked shooter strewing jack of diamond playing cards on their randomly chosen victims, a serial killer of serial killers looking for an old flame, and the hapless bystanders who get caught between them as all hell breaks loose. You’ll relate to these earthly people, try as you might to keep up.
Because every scene pops off. It can be down to a hilarious exchange, some grizzly violence, or overwhelming action, but Martin McDonagh knows how to put a scene together. As for putting an entire movie together, Seven Psychopaths isn’t his most accomplished.
Once the dust settles on the crime caper extravaganza, you’re left with a rather thin story whose only virtue is putting these characters together. It calls to mind Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, another metafictional movie set in L.A. that features a curious assembly of characters, and tries to unearth some pathos deep beneath the black comedy, but where Kiss Kiss Bang Bang managed the feat of tying it all together, McDonagh struggles with finding an impactful place for it all to land.
McDonagh’s ultimately more concerned with rowdy fun, uncouth language spat at characters, and aggressive, shocking outbursts of violence. The glee with which it dispenses all this feels almost juvenile, but there’s no denying everyone’s having fun here.
Seven Psychopaths boasts an incredible cast, and it’s a testament to how skilled players can elevate just about everything. Sam Rockwell shines bright as hellraiser Billy while Colin Farrell’s eyebrows can’t climb down from his forehead as his screenwriter character Marty tries to keep up with Billy. I frankly just want to list them all: Christopher Walken as Hans, Woody Harrelson as Charlie, Tom Waits as Zachariah, with Harry Dean Stanton, Michael Stuhlbarg and Michael Pitt showing up for what are essentially cameos. What riches.
Great actors and great writing combine for a sparkling collection of outrageous scenes, yet once Seven Psychopaths has to stand naked and show you what it’s about, it becomes a meager showing. Blustering and sparkling, but ultimately withering in the silence of retrospect.
Mikkel Frederiksen 