Good Characters, Good Dialogue, But Uneven Results

Rating: Null/10 (11 March 2018)

In the deleted scenes from "Three Billboards" that appear on the DVD of the film, there is one priceless moment where Detective Dixon arrives home late and drunk. In the small home, Dixon sleeps in the same bedroom as his mother. After some strange, over-the-top physical contact and dialogue filled with innuendo, the mother asks the son,"You didn't do nothing bad tonight, did you, baby?" That line could apply to many of the characters of Ebbing on any given night.
The film is richly deserving of praise for the memorable characters. But the inconsequential ending and the overall confusion in the meaning of the film were major shortcomings in an otherwise creative effort.
For example, were the filmmakers attempting a satire of small town, rural America? If so, it is difficult to find any connection of the characters to reality. There was too much cruelty that stretched credibility without being truly provocative. This was especially true with the revenge-minded protagonist Mildred. With her outrageous (and criminal) behavior, one lost sympathy in a hurry for a grief-stricken and guilt-ridden mother. The character who seemed most grounded was Sheriff Willoughby, but he dropped out of the film by choice at the midpoint.
There were a half dozen genuine moments of dark comedy, but too many head-shaking moments where the filmmakers went overboard in depicting the most psychologically unbalanced city on the planet.