Quirky, But Not In A Good Way

Rating: 6/10 (14 February 2018)

I want to love this, as I get the main premise. However, there were a lot of quirks that just didn't fit. Things that didn't scan. Prime example was Sam Rockwell's character, office Dixon. It's like they tried to paint him as a one-dimensional, racist bad guy who redeems himself, but then add more layers that didn't really add/take away from him. Just filler for no reason. And what he does should have gotten him arrested not suspended. Unrealistic.
The dad was just dumb, but then they pull back on the throttle and he's okay. Then he's a dick again. I get that the writer/director is trying to add depth, but it just came out as confusion over the character and his motivations. Him saving the file was stupid. As stupid as her burning down the cop shop and him beating up the ad guy.
Honestly, I rooted for Mildred the least. I found her to be the least sympathetic character in the entire movie, and she was a mom who lost her daughter to a horrific crime. I get it, it changes you and a person who goes through that will never be the same, but damn. I found it almost impossible to root for her. And her little dumb conversations with her slippers and dear? Not cute or informative. Just dumb and it made the character look nuts.
I rooted for the sheriff the most. Here's a good cop who really wanted to solve the case and bring in the bad guy. Not for Mildred or himself, but because it was the right thing to do and it was his job. The dynamic of him having incurable cancer was interesting, and the one time I actually liked Mildred was during their interrogation scene when his cancer interrupts his smug "gotcha" speech. She's so awesome to him and he to her. The one true, shining moment of humanity in this. The movie would have been better served telling the story from the sheriff's point of view and ending with him.
6/10, but that's an aggregate. There were some real 1/10 and 10/10 moments.