Seven Psychopaths

Let's get the insane plot of Seven Psychopaths out of the way: Marty (Collin Farrell) is a struggling Irish screenwriter, who hopes to finish his screenplay for a film called "Seven Psychopaths," while battling a case of writer's block and author-indecisiveness. His best friend is Billy (Sam Rockwell), a boisterous dog-thief, who usually winds up dictating Marty's life rather than helping him along in tough times. Hans (Christopher Walken) is Billy's best friend and partner in crime when it comes to dog-snatching. After both Hans and Billy steal an unpredictable crime boss's (Woody Harrelson) shih-ztu, it becomes a violent, relentless cat-and-mouse chase to get the pup back, and in the meantime, we get lengthy monologues between characters about the production of "Seven Psychopaths" and how Marty's inspiration begins to bubble when he starts considering the barrage of real psychopaths in his own life.

There are several films that exist about the movie-making process and it is a very difficult genre to make effectively. Seven Psychopaths succeeds in balancing the art of characters and the art of plot coherency, and it doesn't cross the line of becoming too involved in the process and too concerned with "in" jokes that leave the audience lost. To put it simply; the actors look like they're having fun, but they make sure we are still amused and connected with the film.

Right off the bat, the first thing one can commend about this entire experience are the rich performances by actors of all different career heights. Collin Farrell plays a wonderful straight-laced man victim to idiocy and unhelpful circumstances, and is only made better by Sam Rockwell's character's shameless belligerence. Woody Harrelson, giving us one of his many diverse roles in recent years, has the rare ability of rustling up a fierce moment of seriousness and delivering a devilishly funny laugh in the same breath. And who could forget supporting-role king Christopher Walken, who continuously borders the line of self-parody here in a memorably sophisticated role? At times, Seven Psychopaths is a witty riot and at other times, it can be monotonous and lengthy. For starters, the film looks and feels like a Quentin Tarantino film blended with the likes of Guy Ritchie. Shots have a very slim sense of narrative cohesion and many, many times are we left bewildered at what we just watched. It's also apparent that the film has a meta, self-aware tone that can be pleasantly charming, and sometimes cloying and overly-cheeky. To simply my feelings; after many sequences was I trying to comprehend what was just given to me and how was I supposed to digest the experience all together.

I mentioned my feelings that the film seemed to drag and felt a little too long - specifically the final scene in the desert which is roughly twenty-five to thirty minutes. Perhaps if your interest is in cheeky comedies and self-aware humor, you won't mind at all. The film is certainly smarter and a lot brighter than some of the flyweight, narrow-minded comic exercises that have bestowed on the mainstream public in recent years. For once, it's refreshing to see a comedy pay close attention to its characters, its events, and its performance, never shortchanging anyone in the process.

NOTE: There's also something very, very different about the cinematography of this picture, different from any kind of visual atmosphere I have seen this year. The southern California area seems to be captured through a grungy, saturated lens with colors appearing bright, humid, and very warm. This easily makes Seven Psychopaths one of the most visually calm pictures of the year.

Starring: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits, Abbie Cornish, and Olga Kurylenko. Directed by: Martin McDonagh.

I see the words "cult classic" in this movie's future. At the very least, I'll be adding this to my collection of movies such as Kick Ass, Pulp Fiction, Zombieland and Hot Fuzz that I love to watch over and over.

You know from the very first scene that this is not your typical Hollywood junk. It was HYSTERICAL, albeit in a pretty sick and twisted way - this is not for the faint of heart. The woman behind me must not have seen the previews, because she got up and left. I'm going to have to see it again this weekend just to catch some of the witty one-liners that I couldn't hear over the roaring laughter. The audience even applauded when it ended.

The script is razor sharp, and you couldn't dream up a better cast to bring it to life. I've always liked Sam Rockwell, but this was a star-making turn for him (at least in my book). You've never seen a movie quite like this. I see a new movie nearly every week, and I rarely feel compelled to sit down and write a review. So take my advice, do yourself a favor and go see it!

There is little doubt that this movie is not for everyone. If don't believe it just look at some of the reviews, lot's of 1's and lot's of 10's, me I am somewhere in the middle, (towards the 10 end). It is not for everyone because it is QUIRKY and I do mean quirky, with lesser talented actors I could well be one of the people giving it 1 star, however the acting was excellent. I have been big fan of Sam Rockwells, since the Green Mile and in Seven he is hilarious. Colin Farrell, was great and as usual Christopher Walken was superb. Mickey Rourke was originally cast in the Woody Harrelson part, and while he did a good job, I think the character might have been better suited to Mickey Roarke. There something about Woody playing a character that is way over the top, that feels like he's playing it way over the top, none the less he was still funny.

This movie was full of hilarious one liners, and some very smart dialog, the plot was at the same time funny and ridiculous. I read a few of the reviewers that slammed this movie and most of them were bashing the plot or the lack thereof, this is not a great who done it, and I will agree the plot was paper thin, at best.

If you see this movie you need to see it for the acting and a fun way to spend 110 minutes. If you are looking for a movie that makes some kind of a statement or makes you really think about your life, then don't see this movie, you will be disappointed.

8/10

It's rare for me to do reviews, but for this film I couldn't resist. I had never heard of "Seven Psychopaths" before today. I caught a preview of it online and decided to see it on a whim. I went into the theater expecting a silly campy film about a bunch of bumbling dudes playing cops and robbers with one another over a dog.

The end results were something completely different than my expectations. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the characters had depth and layers. The story was something unlike I'd ever really seen before, and the cinematography was brilliant. The acting was fantastic, and the script was incredible. The way the characters are able to fall away from their humorous nature and decline into a deeper and darker story makes the movie very well rounded.

The mark of a good film is one that has you laughing one minute, digging for answers to philosophical questions the next, on the edge of your seat moments later, and in tears by the end. "Seven Psychopaths" is all of this and more. It's a movie that, while it has it's funny moments, really makes you think on a deeper level. It's about more than just blowing things up and blood and gore. It's about the inner workings of troubled minds...and a stoic dog that has more personality than half of the actors in Hollywood today.

My friends and I went to the San Diego film festival this past week and were fortunate enough to get into an early screening of Seven Psychopaths, by Martin McDonagh. The film was very satisfying to me personally, weaving an original story around rich characters. Story is something that I take into great consideration when viewing a film as it has lost a foothold in many films today. In terms of presentation, I felt this movie to be a combination of Guy Richie, Quentin Tarantino, and The Coen Brothers. It's hilarious, dark, gripping, precise, quirky, demented, gory, and British. The frequent narration and character introduction of the movie gives it a constantly evolving lure and makes you feel like you're sitting by a camp fire listening to something unfold. Even though their is a thick layer of narration and Peckinpah darkness, it's fun as hell, with the acting a huge aspect of that; if you want to experience a great story, that discovers a point to the whole mess these characters undertake, and have a blast at the same time, then go see this awesome movie!