REVIEW / Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Directed by Martin McDonagh

This is pure fun, a twisted crime comedy with an all-star cast firing on all cylinders. Colin Farrell plays a struggling screenwriter named Marty trying to finish his script "Seven Psychopaths" while his friends Billy (Sam Rockwell) and Hans (Christopher Walken) run a dog-kidnapping scheme that goes sideways when they steal a gangster's (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu. The plot is twisted in more ways than one, folding back on itself as the real-life chaos becomes material for Marty's screenplay.

The meta angle works here. McDonagh plays with the conventions of violent crime films while making one, commenting on the genre while delivering exactly what the genre promises: sharp dialogue, gleeful violence, eccentric characters. It's Tarantino viewed through the British dry humor lens, all the blood and wit but with that sardonic distance that keeps it from taking itself too seriously.

The cast is phenomenal. Rockwell is manic energy, Walken brings his particular brand of calm menace and unexpected tenderness, Harrelson is perfectly unhinged, and Tom Waits shows up because of course he does. Farrell grounds the chaos, playing the one sane person trying to make sense of the madness while realizing he's complicit in creating it.

This is a film that knows exactly what it is and enjoys every minute of it.

my rating 7/10