Three Billboards Keeps You Guessing and Boasts a Sharp Darkly Comedic Wit

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2017)

I didn't fall in love with this movie immediately. I found it funny from the get go but I had to work my way into it. The biggest reason that this movie won me over was how daring and unpredictable the plot was. Every time I was getting settled in, it felt like the movie slapped me awake with some new twist. I mean this in the best possible way. Everyone complains when it comes to Hollywood, there's nothing new under the sun so if someone does something original, its only fair to heap praise upon them. Three Billboards is certainly its own thing, we go from extremely vulgar humour (cleverly written but vulgar) to a character committing murder in a heartbeat. This could have been jarring and it was, but the movie is written so well that I ended up appreciating it because it was different, and it worked far more often than it didn't.
If you can't agree with my sentiments on the plot of Three Billboards, maybe we can find common ground over the deep and surprising character development the movie boasts. Three Billboards is one of those movies where there aren't defined heroes or villains (minus a supporting character that comes in late) and everyone operates in morally grey territory. You go in thinking you're going to be rooting for Mildred (Frances McDormand) going up against Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), Dixon (Sam Rockwell) and the system to get justice for her daughter. Its not that simple and I think you'll be surprised how much your flipping your allegiances back and forth as the movie goes on. You have characters that are complete degenerates who find a soul and a will to be decent and others that seem to lose their humanity along the way. Again, you couple this with how shocking the story turns can be and you have a movie to stand up and take notice of.
I think the cast of Three Billboards is good the whole way around. I would say you have one amazing performance, the rest of the cast is solid and then one that I didn't like as much. They should probably give Frances McDormand the Oscar for her work as Mildred right now. The character is interesting outside of her performance but McDormand makes Mildred a character you can't take your eyes off of. She performs amazingly, she has to convey every emotion and there were moments I was laughing and then the next instant I was almost ready to cry because of her performance. Harrelson hits the right balance as Willoughby. Mildred is such a force of nature that Harrelson probably had to dial it back a little but the interplay between the 2 of them is funny yet very heartfelt. Rockwell is always good at playing a dummy and he does a great job as Dixon. He has the most complete emotional arc to work with and he impresses with it. This is probably my favourite Caleb Landry Jones performance. I never thought he was a bad actor, I just hadn't really seen him standout yet, he accomplished that here. It was nice to see Peter Dinklage in a good supporting part and I liked John Hawkes and Zeljko Ivanek in their small roles. I feel bad because I liked her in other things but I thought Abbie Cornish was miscast. Her accent was all over the place and she just seemed off.
I obviously really enjoyed this movie, I wouldn't be rating it a 9 otherwise. My only minor complaint is that the score bugged me. It was just random and I didn't think it meshed with the rest of the movie. I would caution too (even though I didn't mind it) that this movie is unrelentingly dark. I know that might seem like me nitpicking but there were 4 or 5 times where I audibly gasped because I couldn't believe how deep the movie waded into a dreary and uncomfortable place.
This isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I really dug this movie for what it was. It does what it wants to do and doesn't care if it appeals across the movie going spectrum. I'm not very familiar with Martin McDonagh's past work but I'm paying attention now. If your sense of humour skews toward the dark and you want to see a fresh and well acted movie, go see Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri. I'd give this an 8.5/10 rounded up to a 9/10.