Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Saw 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' on the promise of one of the year's best trailers, the immensely talented cast, the intriguing subject matter, the receiving and pending of numerous accolades and being familiar with Martin McDonagh's previous work.

On the most part 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' was incredibly well done. Understandably it is not for all. The film has already been criticised for implausibility, bigotry, the ending and its lack of character likeability and over-the-top actions, though often without acknowledging the film's many strengths and resorting to condescension (a big bugbear of mine) towards people who liked it let alone loved it.

Did have a couple of issues with 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' myself. The ending is far too abrupt and without resolution in a film crying out for one.

Epileptics should beware too of a dizzyingly edited attempted murder scene, understand why it was edited that way but will admit that it did make me feel ill watching it (luckily it quickly passed).

Abbie Cornish felt out of place here, she doesn't have a lot to do (not enough to single handedly ruin the film, she would have to have a far more major role to do that) but everything about her just jarred.

There are some implausible behaviours and consequences, Dixon's actions were more than just a sackable offense for instance.

However, there is so much to like about 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'. With the sole exception of Cornish, who isn't in it enough to ruin the film, the acting is brilliant. Frances McDormand's performance is a career high and one of the year's best, very heartfelt and fiery, even if you don't condone some of her actions it is hard not to feel for her as she goes through every mother's worst nightmare. Woody Harrelson is heart-breaking and has the film's most sympathetic character perhaps (either he or Peter Dinklage's, although Dinklage doesn't have the film's most tragic scene).

Sam Rockwell is similarly a revelation, you initially dislike his character but later on his 180 is incredibly moving and he is the character who changes and redeems the most. Peter Dinklage always makes anything better and it's the same here just by his presence alone and his performance is the most likeable one, especially towards the end where one actually feels sorry for him.

Another standout is the writing, do not let the heavy use of profanity put you off. There are parts that are darkly comic and induce a number of chuckles and laugh out louds. The film also works as being one that is morally nuanced and complex, the characters are not "likeable" ones, neither were they intended to be, and make questionable decisions but they undergo changes that sees them in a different perspective (Dixon especially).

A large part of me found it difficult to not relate to Mildred, her actions are extreme at times but there are parents in the same situation that feel similarly seeing as grief is an incredibly powerful and complex emotion. It's the tragic elements that resonate most though, with its heavy going themes handled very poignantly and harrowingly. 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' has a story that is deliberate but also gripping, with an adept balance of its varied tones. Which is why it is sad that it ends as unsatisfyingly as it does.

With the exception of one scene, 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' is succinctly edited and grittily and beautifully shot. McDonagh directs very skilfully. Carter Burwell's music score fits perfectly and is a hypnotic, understated and melancholic score in its own right. Just as fitting in a somewhat ironic way is the use of the gorgeous "Last Rose of Summer" exquisitely sung by Renee Fleming, whose voice one familiar with and loves classical music and opera (like me) recognises from anywhere.

Overall, gripping and very well done film if not perfect. The performances are among the best of the year especially but the film itself as an overall whole just falls a tad short of being one of the year's best films. 8/10 Bethany Cox

When you think about great cinema, you often imagine some grandiose epic setting which all that greatness builds upon. The likes of Gone With the Wind or Godfather or The Shawshank Redemption, such films span through decades or cover the major historic events.

But a great story isn't necessary grand on the outside. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is like a tiny rabbit hole size of those three wooden screens, but stick a head in - and you'll see a huge empty space laid with people's sorrow, guilt and regret. And that emptiness sucks you in and leaves no way to stay untouched.

But there's also hope. Hope for justice. Hope for retribution. And maybe even hope that it's still not too late to change something, or to change yourself. That nothing is absolutely black and white. That even in the darkest moments of our lives there's some room for a sense of humor, maybe a sad and bitter one but still one worth a warm smile.

This world is a crooked place, where crime often goes unpunished. And Peter Dinklage's small role in this film, as a reference to another not so pretty world where the "happily ever after" way doesn't quite exist, is a stinging reminder of that. TBOEM does not, however, try to pull the magic sword out of the stone and go crush the wicked and protect the righteous. Instead, it shows that sometimes, crumbling under the weight of the evil things that fall on us, we lose our own limits and become those who sow evil ourselves. Anger does beget even more anger.

And maybe the reason that makes America great indeed is that, with all the messed up stuff happening without and within, it's in your culture to value forgiveness, something Christianity teaches everyone but not everyone tends to listen. To suffer without guilt, yet to offer a helping hand to your offender when he's down and wounded. To break the circle of evil and help each other wake that yearning for decency that everyone has inside them, albeit dormant sometimes. Forgiveness is tough, and, just like revenge, it doesn't bring back the things - or people - we've lost. But at least it helps to hold onto what could still be here.

Yeah, it's just a movie, and most people aren't as deep and philosophical as the movie characters can afford to be. But if some unrealistic complexity (and sometimes even wisdom) of the simple people could make some real regular people on the other side of the screen stop and think over their own real regular ways, maybe that's exactly what we need from time to time. Because life is still here, and so are the multiple choices it gives, And which road to choose today, we can still decide along the way.

This movie I went into almost blind, but I came out of the theater with it probably being my favorite film in the last year. This film is so smart at being able to keep you at the edge of your seat from simple things that they plug into the film. Heartbreaking and tense situations in the first half of the film come back in some shape or form that leave you questioning what is going to happen. There was genuinely no predicting what the characters were going to do and how they would react to certain events. This unpredictability doesn't just apply to situations, but possibly more notable in character arcs. Without giving to much away, there is a character in this film that does everything possible for you to hate them in the first half, and by the end of the film you are rooting for said character. There's times where the characters that you cared for are becoming real and dis-likable in certain scenes, but to the point of more so being genuinely worried about how their choices will affect them.

Every actor in this film did so tremendous as well. I really can't think of an actor or actress that outshines the rest. But if I had to pick favorites, Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell were just that. But a lot of that just has to go into the writing of the characters themselves. The cinematography in this film allows the actors to take advantage of facial expression. There's a scene relatively early in the film that is mostly sitting and staring but the actors have such convincing movements and gestures, it goes to a point where you don't need dialogue to tell what they are feeling and what they are thinking about.

Really the only issue I have in this film is some scenes felt a little unnecessary. Can't give away too much without spoiling, but in a film where every character goes through in arc, there's one character that is just there to break tension and crack personally unfunny jokes. But this character did not affect my score and they were barely in the film.

I highly recommend checking this out.

There is so much pent-up rage over the handling of rape, and police behavior in general, that I think Frances McDormand's character in this film really struck a chord with people. She's on a crusade for her daughter who was raped and killed, and yet no progress has been made in the investigation. She doesn't care who she offends, she won't be intimidated into silence, and she'll stand up for herself in some violent ways. In an interesting twist, the police chief (Woody Harrelson) has pancreatic cancer, so aside from being called out on his investigation, he's dealing with that. The scene McDormand and Harrelson have in an interrogation room, and a specific moment of that is easily the film's best. Harrelson provides a voice of wisdom in the film, and the three letters he pens are also quite touching. There is humor as well, in just how boneheaded one of the policemen (Sam Rockewell) is, and the gem of a moment when Peter Dinklage, otherwise largely wasted, utters the line "Penelope said 'begets'?", in a subtle burn of the 19-year-old now dating McDormand's ex-husband.

The film started strong, but along the way started losing me. It suffers artistically from a lack of restraint, and everything seems exaggerated. The profanity. The characters, who start becoming cartoonish. The level of violence. The coincidences. It seems to me that McDonagh's writing is a real issue here. Her last words to her daughter were "I hope you get raped," really? To leave that in the script is egregiously bad, and an insult to the viewer's intelligence. The Molotov cocktails, really? The guy being in the station to begin with, and of course wearing ear buds, really? A man thrown out of a window, and no arrest, really? And on and on, until an ending which is pretty awful if you think about it. It's just tough to appreciate the message of the film or its cast in light of all this. It was entertaining to watch, but in my humble opinion, not worthy of all the acclaim.

It seemed that the pregnant police detective Marge Gunderson from 'Fargo' would forever be the most memorable character of Frances McDormand's acting career. But now I'm not so sure. Mildred Hayes, the heroine from 'Three Billboards', is a serious contender. This might well be her best performance ever.

The part of Mildred Hayes was written with McDormand in mind. Hayes is a divorced single mother, living with her son on the outskirts of a small, remote town. She had a daughter too, but the girl was raped and killed on a quiet mountain road not far from home. Frustrated by the lack of progress of the investigation, Hayes decides to rent three dilapidated billboards, publicly accusing the local police chief of incompetence. By doing so, she attracts the attention of the media, angers almost the entire town and causes a succession of increasingly violent actions.

Although the film is about grief, anger, revenge and violence, it is extremely funny. Above all because of Mildred Hayes' stubborn character and her ability to verbally humiliate people by her extremely sharp tongue. The monologue she delivers when a priest visits her house to tell her she has gone too far, is priceless.

Apart from McDormand's performance, the screenplay is another great feature of this film. The story is full of unexpected twists, gradually shifting the positions of the main characters towards each other. None of the characters are one-dimensional: they all reveal surprising parts of their personalities as the story moves forward.

And then there is the overall, almost Coen-esque atmosphere of a small town full of colourful characters. There is a racist cop, a friendly midget, a smart advertising guy and a pretty girl who is so dumb she doesn't know the difference between polo and polio.

It is hard to mention something negative about this film. 'Three Billboards' is, from start to finish, a great movie. I can't imagine anyone not enjoying it.