Overrated.

Rating: 2/10 (21 January 2018)

Seen trailers for this film a couple of times & knew I had to see it. Not because of the fake rave reviews this film has been receiving, but because it got my attention & as I do, I go & watch the film with with an open mind & see if it's any good.
Well sadly, that wasn't the case with this film. I mean there was some funny moments in it & some good points, but the film just seemed to go nowhere. In other words, it just seemed to string you on throughout the film with plot points here & there & just when you thought it was actually getting to the heart of what the film's climax was about, it ends...! That's it! A typical cliff hanger! So lazy, & so unimaginative!
The film is about woman named Mildred living in Ebbing, Missouri. We find out just 5 minutes in, that her daughter was raped & burned to death a few years back, but the case to find the person who done it went cold. So Mildred who is driving home one day spies the billboards en route, & decides to put them to her own personal use by putting up a message directed at the sheriffs department to prompt them to re-open the case & find the person responsible.
The films concept is unique & different. You already know the story about 20 minutes in but there was certain parts which made you think the film wasn't going to be as straight forward as it let on to be.
The sheriff having cancer was just an instant turn off for me. You thought the film was going to get good the second he knew about the billboards, but then he has cancer & dies prematurely in the film. Similar to how Jigsaw was killed off early in the Saw franchise, he was killed off in Saw III but more films followed, but that's another rant.
Anyway, there didn't seem to much of a war between him & Mildred. Which I would've liked considering it would've at least stuck to the story more & probably would've had a decent enough ending. But the films story derailed & spiraled around erratically from plot point to plot point, while being laced with scene to scene of this moody old hag 99% of the film! Some scenes seemed to stray away from the deal with the billboards, the film itself got lost in the middle, & when it finally did get back on track, it ended!
I even felt the film dragged & the scenes of Mildred acting out like a bratty 16 year old slag, didn't help! I mean the scenes in question weren't all bad, but the pacing & the quantity of them felt both distracting & out of place! Even when the film did get to the good parts, they themselves dragged & then the ending which, I had a feeling was going to leave a cliffhanger ending &... Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding!! Cliffhanger it was!!
Some scenes were pretty funny & there was some good stuff going on. Although the scenes you see where utterly implausible to real life & how certain situations happen, they still were nonetheless, entertaining. But began to get a little old as the film wore on.
I also have to say, the film felt unbalanced & all over the place. It dragged on & felt stretched out, unlike getting to the point of what the title was. The film lost it's way & forgot what it was supposed to be. Idiots moaned at the exact things I'm pointing out here in this film about Suburbicon, which got negative reviews, but that film was simple & entertaining.
Which brings me to another issue, the title. It's too damn long & difficult to remember to say when buying a ticket at the cinema. It would've been better to title the film Three Billboards! Shot & sweet & simple. Unlike this film which is long than the actual title, which is left to be desired considering the film doesn't sum up the point of the film, let alone the title itself. The point & title of the film quickly diminishes in the first 5 minutes.
Long story short, the film starts great, derails, strings you along, get back on track, then ends on a cliffhanger. Incredible.
Overall a poor disappointing film that had potential, had a unique concept, but was unfinished, dragged out, & ironically enough proves that once again that money talks & bullsh!t walks the critical acclaim coming from over paid film critics who'll easily give this tripe a critical acclaim of 10/10 rating for the sake of billions of £££. The fact that nearly over 30 film festivals have screen this film is shocking. This film could've been so much better had it got to the point instead of derailing & re-tracking again for the space of nearly an hour.
Rating: 2/10