Witty dialogue isn't always appropriate

Rating: 6/10 (18 June 2018)

In the first few minutes of the movie, I noticed--and appreciated--some rather witty dialogue. As the movie went on, the cleverness of the dialogue became a distraction that got in the way of the story. Nowhere--not in Ebbing, Missouri--or anywhere else does EVERYONE have a witty retort for EVERYTHING! Perhaps the screenwriters felt a need to show off, but at the expense of real, believable characters.
Also, the moral ambiguity of almost all the characters was presented in a rather heavy-handed, civics lesson sort of way.