Hilarious and affecting

Rating: Null/10 (12 November 2017)

So I watched Three Billboards earlier today. I really may start buying this film's chances as a true contender for Best Picture after all. Considering the incredibly enthusiastic response it got from the audience, it could very well be a consensus pic. For some reason I assumed it would be a "harder" film to love, but not at all. In terms of performances, these actors have really rarely been better. Frances McDormand could probably do this role in her sleep, but that's a testament to her abilities and less about it not being great work. Far from it. This role is a culmination of the many types of roles she's played in the past, and she of course delivers it perfectly. There is absolutely no other actress that I think would be able to give the work that she does. The same goes for Sam Rockwell. None of what he does here is too shocking or "stand out" because, just like McDormand, he's an actor who has shown traits of this role in some of his works in the past. Again, this is not a criticism but simply proof of what an accomplished and capable actor he's proved himself to be in the past. If the Oscar should come down to him or Willem Dafoe, I think it absolutely should be Rockwell's. Woody Harrelson and Caleb Landry Jones also deliver some strong, affecting work in their roles.