Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is the latest film of
writer-director Martin McDonagh. The billboards are on a remote road near the
home of Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), whose teenage daughter Angela
(Kathryn Newton) was raped and murdered seven months before the story starts.
With money she's scraped together, Mildred rents them for a year, using them to
spell out a blunt message about her desire to see the killer hunted down.
This is language as weapon, with a vengeance. The premise sets the tone
for a series of confrontations between the implacable Mildred and the generally
disapproving townsfolk, including her volatile ex-husband (John Hawkes) and the
weary town sheriff (Woody Harrelson). These scenes are as charged, yet much of
the dialogue retains an innocent silliness, despite the serious subject matter,
encouraging us to laugh where we shouldn't. It's clear that McDonagh's ideas
about the American heartland, such as they are, derive more from pop culture
than anywhere else. Above all, the blend of quaintness, bloody violence and
tongue-in-cheek metaphysics shows a debt to the Coen brothers, McDormand is a
longstanding member of the Coen team. Three Billboards could be described as an
entertaining story, but McDonagh leaves certain connections to be made by the
viewer. Ultimately there's more redemption for the characters than might be
expected.
No comments:
Post a Comment