Overview
Director Martin McDonagh hit just the right note with his dazzling feature debut In Bruges, the black comedy about two assasins (Colin Farrell and Brendon Gleeson) hiding out after a murder gone wrong. In Seven Psychopaths he's teamed up once again with Farrell to create a far more ambitious project.
Marty, played by Farrell, is an alcoholic scriptwriter living in LA with his girlfriend Kaya, played by Abbie Cornish. His latest script idea isn't going so well. He's fallen in love with the title Seven Psychopaths but is lacking in inspiration. The trouble is Marty, who has achieved some success in the world of splatter flicks, doesn't want to write about gratuitous violence anymore. He wants Seven Psychopaths to be life affirming. Ridiculous? Absolutely.
His well meaning if not manic best friend Billy, is desperate to co-write the script but he has more sinister ideas for how the storyline should pan out. He's an out of work actor and to help pay the bills he's involved in a crime ring which specialises in dognapping. The scam goes that Billy steals the dogs then head honcho Hans, played by Christopher Walken, reunites the poached pooches with their owners in the hope he will be offered a generous reward. No-one gets hurt and business goes well until Billy steals the wrong Shih Tzu. This dog belongs to trigger happy mob boss, Charlie, played by Woody Harrelson. He loves that dog more than his girlfriend, not that that is saying much but he loves her a whole lot. A chase ensues although perhaps not in quite the way you'd anticipate.
This film starts really well but it seems to peter out around the middle as quick one-liners take precedence over a strong script. Thankfully though, McDonagh employs character actors who deliver moments of inspired brilliance. Woody Harrelson nails the dog-loving loose cannon role and Tom Waits is excellent as the rabbit-obsessed psycho. Although the highlight has to be Christopher Walken's very human portrayal of the steely-eyed Hans. He is clearly deranged and yet has some of the most lucid and intuitive lines in the film. Typically, the female characters are on the light side and seem to exist just as pretty little things to be sacrificed in the name of the brotherhood. I know we tend to bang on about this but wouldn't it be great if we could move away from this sort of action film stereotype?
Even if it doesn't all work, I love the way this film tirelessly makes fun of itself. When he's asked why he refuses to put his hands up when a gun is being pointed at him, Hans says stone-faced: "Because I don't want to". He clearly hasn't read the mob handbook. The relentless black humour and occasional moments of genuine emotion left me smiling all the way home.