Seven Psychopaths

Overview

He taps his pen on the page. An Amish psychopath? No. A Buddhist? No! A Quaker psychopath? Yes, perfect.

Seven Psychopaths is not just about some guy writing a film script about psychopaths; it's a story of the ultimate friendship between the Irish alcoholic writer, Marty Faranan (Colin Farrell), and his nutso friend, Billy Bickles (Sam Rockwell), and the search for the ultimate B-grade film shootout. The two have their friendship tested to the max as Marty's tenuous relationship with his girlfriend Kaye (Abbie Cornish) hits the rocks, a dog heist goes awry, the mafia is hot on their heels, and some pretty shocking secrets surface.

The overall flashy and ironic grain of the film is the hallmark of creative visionary Martin McDonagh, who also wrote and directed In Bruges. The characters and their individual stories spill all over the place, like balls on a billiard table, only to simultaneously land in their nets, in one foul strike. McDonagh himself describes the story as almost too complex and multilayered, and he works the same words into the film as Hans (Christopher Walken) says ominously of Marty's script: "It's got layers."

The storyline echoes Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, whereby a struggling writer, who fails at real life, explores a fantasy world that titillates his fancy to such a depth that it weaves its way into his own reality. Not giving away too much (I hope), Gil Pender's fantasy of 1920s Paris is Marty's preoccupation with psychopathic killers. The author initially resists the fantasy and doesn't understand the bizarre things that are happening around him but eventually he surrenders to it all.

As the billiard stick lines up and gets ready to strike, we know the end is nigh, and the film reveals that while Marty’s best friend Billy means ever so well, his zealousness leads the pack along to the ultimate place for a psychopath...