Just how do you follow up such a cult hit as big as 'In Bruges'? This was the question for writer/director Martin McDonagn who has not released a film since earning his Oscar for the brilliant 'In Bruges'. His answer to this question involves his former 'In Bruges' college Colin Farrell along with an all star cast, lots of funny one liners, plenty of violence and one missing Shih Tzu.
'Seven Psychopaths' revolves around a struggling screenwriter called Marty (Farrell) and his involvement with his sort of best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell). Billy and his friend Hans (Christopher Walken) are in the dog napping business. They steal dogs in the park, and then claim the reward from the owner. Between the two of them, they just about have everything under control. This is until one of the dogs stolen belongs to a gangster called Charlie (Woody Harrelson), who wants his Shih Tzu back by any means necessary. These events drag Marty into a world of crime, violence and death, that he had only before wrote about on paper.
The thing that works wonderfully with 'Seven Psychopaths' are the characters and how the script focuses on them as individuals and doesn't drop them into the story. It's very easy for a film to have a great plot and just drop in an action hero and a villain, but McDonagn cares about these characters and everything that happens during the film is because of the their actions and personalities. The way the film was played out reminded me of 'Killing Them Softly', which was not a film about gangsters and hit men killing each other, but about the actual people themselves.
Just like 'In Bruges', McDonagn has added plenty of dark humour and brilliantly funny one-liners into the script. The opening scene involves two gangsters discussing if John Dillinger was shot in the eye or not. This instantly reminded me of the conversations between Ray and Ken from 'In Bruges' or Vincent and Jules from 'Pulp Fiction'. The dialogue throughout is wonderfully engaging and full of memorable quotes.
Whilst Farrell and Harrelson are on top form, it's Rockwell and Walken who steal the show. Everybody loves watching Christopher Walken and this is by far his best performance in years. He provides most the films laughs and also gains the audiences sympathy, without changing his character too much. Anyone who has seen 'Moon' from 2009 will know that Rockwell should have been nominated for best actor at the Oscars, but it never happened. Surely he will receive a best supporting actor nomination for his performance in 'Seven Psychopaths'. He portrays one the smartest idiots I think I've ever seen on film, and emerges into the role so well.
One Problem with the film is the amount of characters. With 'In Bruges', McDonagn was able to give the two lead characters lots of depth as we spent the whole film with them. Whilst all the characters are well laid out in 'Seven Psychopaths', I couldn't help but feel that some were more interesting then others, and that I would have been interested to know more about minor characters. In particular Charlies girlfriend played by Ola Kurylenko. However, McDoaghn backs himself up with a speech by Marty in which he explains the lack of women in films today and how they are used for either sex or to be killed.
'Seven Psychopaths' is ludicrously entertaining from start to finish, smartly written and directed and full of great performances. Whilst I may prefer 'In Bruges, McDonagn proves that he is not just a one trick pony and I can't wait to see what he does next.
'Seven Psychopaths' revolves around a struggling screenwriter called Marty (Farrell) and his involvement with his sort of best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell). Billy and his friend Hans (Christopher Walken) are in the dog napping business. They steal dogs in the park, and then claim the reward from the owner. Between the two of them, they just about have everything under control. This is until one of the dogs stolen belongs to a gangster called Charlie (Woody Harrelson), who wants his Shih Tzu back by any means necessary. These events drag Marty into a world of crime, violence and death, that he had only before wrote about on paper.
The thing that works wonderfully with 'Seven Psychopaths' are the characters and how the script focuses on them as individuals and doesn't drop them into the story. It's very easy for a film to have a great plot and just drop in an action hero and a villain, but McDonagn cares about these characters and everything that happens during the film is because of the their actions and personalities. The way the film was played out reminded me of 'Killing Them Softly', which was not a film about gangsters and hit men killing each other, but about the actual people themselves.
Just like 'In Bruges', McDonagn has added plenty of dark humour and brilliantly funny one-liners into the script. The opening scene involves two gangsters discussing if John Dillinger was shot in the eye or not. This instantly reminded me of the conversations between Ray and Ken from 'In Bruges' or Vincent and Jules from 'Pulp Fiction'. The dialogue throughout is wonderfully engaging and full of memorable quotes.
Whilst Farrell and Harrelson are on top form, it's Rockwell and Walken who steal the show. Everybody loves watching Christopher Walken and this is by far his best performance in years. He provides most the films laughs and also gains the audiences sympathy, without changing his character too much. Anyone who has seen 'Moon' from 2009 will know that Rockwell should have been nominated for best actor at the Oscars, but it never happened. Surely he will receive a best supporting actor nomination for his performance in 'Seven Psychopaths'. He portrays one the smartest idiots I think I've ever seen on film, and emerges into the role so well.
One Problem with the film is the amount of characters. With 'In Bruges', McDonagn was able to give the two lead characters lots of depth as we spent the whole film with them. Whilst all the characters are well laid out in 'Seven Psychopaths', I couldn't help but feel that some were more interesting then others, and that I would have been interested to know more about minor characters. In particular Charlies girlfriend played by Ola Kurylenko. However, McDoaghn backs himself up with a speech by Marty in which he explains the lack of women in films today and how they are used for either sex or to be killed.
'Seven Psychopaths' is ludicrously entertaining from start to finish, smartly written and directed and full of great performances. Whilst I may prefer 'In Bruges, McDonagn proves that he is not just a one trick pony and I can't wait to see what he does next.