★★★★★
Starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges
Directed by Martin McDonagh
2017 / 115 Minutes / Fox Searchlight Pictures
Frances McDormand pulls off yet another brilliant performance. This time as Mildred Hayes, a grief stricken mother who challenges the local police department to solve her daughter’s murder when they fail to find the culprit.
This sounds like an intense heavy drama, which at times is, but it’s actually quite humorous. Three Billboards straddles the drama and dark comedy brilliantly. You will laugh a lot, but you will also find yourself immersed in a very serious drama. The balance of the two is perfect!
Martin McDonagh’s (In Brudges) script is spot on superb and engaging. The dialogue keeps you wanting more and you’ll find yourself falling into the mix of these crazy, but realistic characters. You feel for them each in different ways. What comes across so perfectly is the small town relationships between these characters. They have a history together and even though it doesn’t focus on it we feel it. Theses characters have known each other long before we showed up. We’ve been invited into these people’s lives, but only for a moment.
It’s not only McDormand who pulls of an Oscar worthy performance, the rest of the cast is equally terrific. Sam Rockwell gives one of the best performances of his career. His doofus offensive cop gets a lot of the laughs. Woody Harrelson is also remarkable.
There was only one weakness in the movie and that was the casting of Abbie Cornish as Harrelson’s wife. I felt confused by her character. It’s a small minor thing, but her performance and character felt like a slight stain on a perfect movie and not to come down too harsh, but it really was the only moment in the film that pulled me out of it. A complete mis-cast.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri is one of the best films of the year! A crowd pleasing film that I promise you won’t be disappointed in. It’s so good I’ve seen it twice already!
Grade A
