Rich characterizations in this near-perfect black comedy

Rating: 9/10 (7 January 2018)

Martin McDonagh's new film gives us a glorious Frances McDormand performance (I believe she is incapable of delivering a bad performance), a tight script that is funny and riveting from start to finish, and surprising character development. The film plays like a tribute to a Coen Brothers' film (change the location to a larger town in Missouri, and it could have easily been called "Joplin"...)
McDonagh, who is not an American, captured the look and feel of a depressed rural town in middle America perfectly (although filming in North Carolina instead of the Ozarks loses the authenticity a bit...) The characters played by McDormand, Sam Rockwell (another actor incapable of delivering a sub-par performance), Woody Harrelson, and John Hawkes initially come across as stereotypes (angry mother, unhinged deputy, righteous sheriff, abusive ex husband, respectively), but the arcs of their stories take unexpected turns. The most satisfying experience in the theater this year. And McDormand's lashing out at a local religious figure, calling out the utter hypocrisy of the Evangelicals in this country, is alone with the price of admission.