Film Review : Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths is an energetically demented psycho-killer comedy set in present day faux-noir L.A. Marty (Colin Farrell), an Irish screenwriter befallen with severe writer’s block withers his days away by hanging out along side his fully absent-minded friend Billy, neurotically and maniacally played by Sam Rockwell. The two go forth in setting about constructing Marty’s next Feature only to be side-tracked many times over by Marty’s inability to tackle his Alcoholism.  But it’s the dognapping business which Billy runs on the side with the the older statesmen Hans (played extremely deadpanned by Christopher Walken) that gets the gang into hot water. After working on his material and liver so long, Marty soon finds himself questioning what’s real and what’s his story – Is it Marty that stands in his way or his surroundings?

Four years post his first film In Bruges, Writer/Playwright/Director, Martin McDonagh has crafted an unique narratively-absurdist second Feature by creating a well-thought and complex character piece that also gives loving omage to influences of Tarantino, Malick and Pechinpah through great storytelling and visual appeals; the WorldPsychopaths lives in is an ugly one that deconstructs the norm movie genres and never looks back. McDonagh never leaves questions to the audience and pushes the envelope of cynicism to its breaking point, without pushing the viewers over the edge – this Writer, for one, would like to thank McDonagh for this work on this piece. The third act does suffer a bit from a slight drag but with its preceding two acts and the finale, one soon forgives the Director – frankly, the speed allows the audience to really embrace the acts of violence at a shattering level, making for a more fully realized World.

Very Meta at its heart, Psychopaths does a wonderful job in delivery the funniest and most revealing lines direct to the audience. Using quick cuts for technique, the story weaves through Mary & Billy’s predicaments between the story-within-a-story and the film’s real-life characters. While confusing at times and not always executed 100% precisely,Psychopaths‘ audiences are left feeling like the story’s main character – jilted, batted and altogether, directly in the moment.

The rich casting choices and wonderful on-screen characters will draw the audience in as well. The principle actors are so dead-on and direct that the audience is left wondering if these characters aren’t really the actors off-screen. Farrell and Rockwell have film-stealing scenes and dialogue that comes off so charismatic that one would love to simply sit and spend the day with each character – no matter how crazy each can be. Ultimately, Seven Psychopaths is truly an ensemble piece with Harry Dean Stanton showing up as a psycho Quaker, Tom Waits as a bunny-toting sympathetic hunter of Serial Killers, and Woody Harrelson shining wonderfully as a Shih Tzu-loving, heartless gangster – the combination will remind viewers (like Coen Brothers projects) how good crazy character driven pieces can really be. Lastly, wonderfully and incredibly underplayed at the heart of Psychopaths is one softly spoken Christopher Walken who’s matter-of-fact Hans is so wonderful to watch, one would hope a prequel would be made centering on the character; in particular is a stand-off scene between Harrelson and Walken that possibly rivals any previous scene the veteran actor has shown in his career.

Altogether, Seven Psychopaths Is a lively and wonderful treat with unconventional writing. Martin McDonagh has created a picture puzzle that deserves a viewing if not only for the storytelling but for the acting happening on screen. My only warning – don’t watch this if you are queazy at the sight of blood or haven’t slept in a while – you might leave thinking your still in McDonagh’s very realized and cyclical dream. Seven Psychopaths won the People’s Choice ‘Midnight Madness’ Award at the Toronto International Fim Festival this year and there’s no reason to wonder why.

~ Matt Miles, Producer of Fresh Roasted Films