Three Billboards Outside Ebbings Montana

       ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbings Missouri’ caught me off guard.  I had seen all the great reviews, but during the season most Oscar movies are released, many smaller low budget movies are over blown and over advertised in hopes of garnering Oscar attention.  Usually, I end up being disappointed.  Judging from the trailers, this just seemed to be another pretentious dark comedy despite it’s impressive cast. I had no intention of seeing this film, but so many friends and colleagues, whom opinions I respect, recommended this film to me that I thought I should reconsider.  Then when I saw that it was written and directed by Martin McDonagh of ‘In Bruges’ fame, I couldn’t resist.  ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbings Missouri’ is low-key, thoughtful, insightful, and an amazingly powerful film despite the simple dark comedy the trailers suggest.  I’m amazed an Englishman like McDonagh can so effectively capture  such a nuanced piece of Americana as small town life in rural Missouri, but he does it with the deft skill of a master filmmaker.  While not perfect, I give ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbings Missouri” my highest recommendation

The movie starts off in the rural life of Mildred (Frances McDormand) a year after she lost her daughter to an unsolved rape/murder.  Despairing that no justice has been found for her daughter and frustrated with the silence from the local police, she decides to rent three billboards calling out the Police Chief for his lack of action.  Police Chief Willoughby (played to perfection by Woody Harrelson) could have been portrayed as a two dimensional villain as small town police often are.  Instead, Harrelson gives a nuanced performance of Police Chief Willoughby who wrestles with his failure of not solving the case, but even more as he faces his own mortality as he is dying of cancer.  Nothing is done over the top or overly morose, rather it is a calm examination of the dynamics between these two people.

McDonagh definitely inserts some of his political agenda into the story, especially when examining the abusive and racist Deputy Dixon (another great performance by Sam Rockwell), but he could have made him much more of a characature than he did.  Dixon is not bright and definitely an abusive and racist person, but McDonagh is able to explore his character from less of a judgmental point of view and more of exploring his humanity.  I don’t say that it’s a forgiving exploration of his humanity, but more of an understanding of him as a person and what drives him, misguided as we may think it is.

There are no easy answers in this film.  Stories tend to be crafted to have a virtuous protagonist and evil antagonists.  As we delve deeper into Mildred’s story, we never once lose our sympathy or empathy for her pain of losing her daughter, but we do gain insight into that she has made mistakes along the way as well as her coming to understand that Police Chief Willoughby did not fail to solve the case  because of apathy.  Like I said, no easy answer on who is right and who is wrong.  It comes to a point where Mildred goes overboard and while we understand why and have little sympathy for those affected by her actions, we find that we cannot stand steadfastly by her.

I would be remiss if I didn’t call out the performances of James (one of my favorites, Peter Dinklage) who is the local dwarf who longs for Mildred and Charlie, (played by the under rated John Hawkes), Mildred’s abusive ex-husband who left her for a 19 yr old vapid girl.  They say in Hollywood that there are no small roles and this proves the adage.  While not primary to the film, both characters add to the rich tapestry of life in Ebbings, Missouri.  Both characters help us understand Mildred more as a person and relate to the demons that drive her.

I don’t believe there is enough buzz around this film for it to do exceptionally well at the Oscars, but it’s a shame, because this falls into one of my best films of the year, if not the best.  It is definitely Martin McDonagh’s best film to date (and that’s saying a lot).  I wish this film much success and I hope you find time to fit this into your busy Holiday Season schedule.

I give this film **** stars out of five.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbings Missouri trailer