“Seven Psychopaths” is the latest film from director Martin McDouagh, the director of the 2008 film “In Burges” Going into this film, I was interested in this film after watching the film’s trailer. That also happened, when I was interested with “In Burges” and it turned out to be a very disappointing film. I was hoping that it wouldn’t be the same case with “Seven Psychopaths”.
The film is about a struggling screenwriter, who’s having a very hard time trying to finish his screenplay entitled “Seven Psychopaths”. He’s looking for inspiration, as he lacks focus. With the help of his best friend (Sam Rockwell) and his best friend’s partner in crime (Christopher Walken), they try to help him become more focused on his screenplay. But his problems get worse, as his friends steal a dog from a violent and psychotic mob boss (Woody Harrelson). Now, they are on the run trying to get away from the mob.
I was surprised that I enjoyed “Seven Psychopaths” a lot considering that I hated McDounagh’s last film “In Burges”. This film feels vastly better and stays on track for the entire time without turning into a completely different film.
McDounagh’s director and writing felt different compared to his last film. One of the reasons was that it doesn’t turn into a completely different. He does a very good job keeping the tone of the dark. Whether it’s the way that he directs the performance to how some of the film’s scenes gelled together, it never gets to that point that it’s going to do a 180 and turn into a different and unsatisfying film. Everything manages to stay on track through to keep you interested in the film. When the story and acting stays on track during a dark comedy, the film works well as a whole.
The other reason was that this film was different was the acting. The main cast was very good here. Colin Farrell wasn’t annoying like he was “In Burges”. He manages to keep his character very interesting instead of being fault annoying in his last film with McDounagh. It was also nice to see both Sam Rockwell, who’s last good performance was in “Iron Man 2”back in 2012 and Christopher Walken, who hasn’t had a good performance since 2005’s “Wedding Crashers” finally be on their game, as the performances were entertaining. They’re both finally are given some good material to work with. When both of these actors have good material to work with, they always bring their charisma to their performances and make their characters stand out.
Martin McDounagh’s screenplay is much better than his last film. One of the things that I liked about the screenplay was that the story stays on track throughout the course of the film. It helped make the action offbeat and quirky instead of feeling confused and wondering what the story is trying to be. The other thing that makes the screenplay good was the characters. The screenplay handles its characters very well, as they’re easily likable or hated. The reason for that was the way the characters were developed. They are developed fully and they were fit the film’s story. It helped made the crazy scenarios fit the tone of the story while not going off track.
“Seven Psychopaths” is what I was expecting when watching McDounagh’s last film. It’s a very quirky and crazy action with a story that doesn’t go off track and very entertaining performances.
Review Rating: Three and a Half Stars.
Good review. This movie was great and kept me watching the whole time. I didn't feel much for these characters; as much as I felt for the ones in In Bruges, but I still had a fun time listening to everybody speak this snappy dialogue out.