Not the Year's Best, But McDonah's Best So Far

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2018)

Martin McDonah's films have dealt with the comic overtones arising from violent clashes between men, a territory mined by Tarantino extensively, and like that writer-director's increasingly outlandish works, his stories have skated near the border of originality and self indulgence. In "Three Billboards," he dives into the world of small-town racism and police corruption in the U.S. with the intent of telling a story of moral redemption, leaving the world of career criminals behind.
Critics that are currently throwing bricks at the film for failing to spell out the details of the racist behavior alluded to in the movie's early scenes, or focusing on white characters almost exclusively, miss the point of a character-driven story that isn't trying to be a movie of the week. Compared to some of the comic-book pictures of American life depicted by European directors such as Luc Besson, McDonah has taken a lighter touch. There is violence, but the story doesn't wallow in it. Frances McDormand even gets to reprise the moment of reconsideration that she had with Billy Crudup's character at the end of "Almost Famous."