Seven Psychopaths is my kind of film; weird, twisted, and thoroughly entertaining. Writer and Director Martin McDonagh, who brought us ‘In Bruges’, returns to bring us this quirky film about psychopaths and... dog kidnapping??
Drunk and perennially writer’s blocked Marty (Colin Farrell) has a life that is going no where. His career is stalled and his girlfriend is at her wit’s end with him. His eccentric friend Billy (the always delightful Sam Rockwell) comes up with an idea for a script called ‘Seven Psychopaths’. Marty likes the idea, but wants to do a different type of psychopath film. He wants to do a non-violent film about psychopaths. The brain storming is hilarious as they explore different types of characters from the Buddhist psychopath before finally settling on a Quaker psychopath. The movie melds back and forth between what is really happening and the stories that Marty is trying to flesh out.
Things are looking up for Marty as his creative fires have been reignited, until Billy’s side job of kidnapping dogs and collecting reward money goes astray. Billy and his elderly friend Hans (played equally delightful by Christopher Walken) make fairly good money scouring the parks for unattended dogs and kidnapping them. They collect reward money from the grateful owners and judging by the amount of dogs in their warehouse kennel, they make more than a fair amount. As bad luck would have it (or is it bad luck), they kidnap the dog of a deranged mobster named Charlie (Woody Harrelson).
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Billy as placed an advert in the paper asking for psychopaths to show up at their apartment and tell their stories in order to inspire Marty. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Collin Farrell is known for comedy, but his reactions to Billy’s antics are priceless and I’ve gained new respect for his ability to stretch himself as an actor. The film is rated R graphic, but I wouldn’t necessarily consider it violent. It has a goofiness to it in the midst of some dark and somber story telling. It’s an odd mix. Part of the joy of this movie is trying to realize what is actually happening and what is part of the script that Marty is try to flesh out.
The movie is a mish mash of plot lines that constantly interconnect, but never trip over themselves. Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, and Woody Harrelson almost play their roles to parody level, but not quite. There is enough weight to their quirkiness where the audience is laughing, albeit uncomfortably at times. It was also engaging how the film treated itself as a storyline as well. It often telegraphed what was going to happen through Marty’s screenwriting. It’s something you have to see on screen to understand as I am challenged to describe exactly how they did it.
This is a fun small film. You have to like quirky independent films, but if you liked ‘In Bruges’ then this is right up your alley. Great job to Martin McDonagh on another one of his films that I thoroughly enjoyed.
I give this film *** 1/2 stars
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