Could have been much better

Rating: 6/10 (9 March 2018)

The camera loves Frances McDormand, and she gives a riveting performance as the angry, very stubborn and half crazy Mildred Hayes. Many of the things she does in trying to bait the police into reopen her daughter's murder case are almost understandable, if a little mad. But she later crosses the line morally and legally. Like drilling her dentist's finger. And destroying the police station. And yet she isn't arrested. Why not? Similarly, Sam Rockwell's police character is clearly insane, committing all sorts of crimes, and yet he goes largely unpunished, because it suits the plot. The change in his character he undergoes later is completely unbelievable. He's been Mildred's evil nemesis, and now he's her friend? The ending is quite underwhelming.
I found the nasty comments about the dwarf character, played by Peter Dinklage, offensive. The characters make joke after joke about how unattractive and freakish he is. In the 21st century, aren't we past being that nasty?
I guess they were trying to be daring but no, it was just mean.
The scenery in the film was lovely and the direction was good. Writer and director Martin McDonagh is clearly talented. It's just that he seems to rely on swearing and unnecessary violence to make an impact.
Which is just lazy.
I didn't hate this movie. But it needed much more work before it was made. Instead it's gone for, 'let's throw in a lot of the F word and people getting shot and punched, and people will love it."
But it's no substitute for a great script,