'Seven Psychopaths' - Movie Review

A decade ago I watched "In Bruges," one of the most quotable, memorable, and brilliant movies I've ever seen. A few days ago I watched "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and realized they were both written and directed by the same man, Martin McDonagh. So I thought I ought to get around to watching the one in between: "Seven Psychopaths" - also written and directed by McDonagh.

It's a very self-referential film: our main character is a screenwriter named Martin (Colin Farrell) who's trying to write a movie called "Seven Psychopaths." And as he explains the scenes he's considering putting in the movie, they play out before us. His best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell) is a dog-napper, whose business partner is Hans (Christopher Walken), and they've recently accidentally kidnapped the dog of one of the area's mob bosses (Woody Harrelson). Marty and the two dog-nappers flee to the desert (the Joshua Tree Monument by the look of it) with the dog, where they talk about scenes for the movie.

The problem for me - and I acknowledge that I wasn't surprised about this given that the movie is called "Seven Psychopaths" - is that there's not a single likeable character in it. And it's seriously crazy, in an unpleasant sort of way. But in the end it manages enough interesting moments to be worth the time spent - and if you're okay with no likeable characters, you should definitely give it a go.