‘Seven Psychopaths’... that’s a great name for a movie, right? Marty (Colin Farrell), the Hollywood screenwriter, seems to think so, as does his best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell), the dognapper. The only problem is, Marty can’t seem to move past the title - that is, until Billy decides to help him with some of the tales of “fictional” psychopaths and the aid of a well-placed classifieds advertisement. But when Billy and his partner is crime Hans (Christopher Walken) kidnap the much-beloved dog of gangster (Woody Harrelson), everything goes pear-shaped... and they still have a screenplay to write.
SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS - TRAILER
‘In Bruges’ writer/director Martin McDonagh has once again assembled a stellar cast for another dark yet endlessly dry-witted film that lives up to it’s evocative title - and more.
‘Seven Psychopaths’ has a very ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ feel, with hard, fast, and often brilliantly awkward laughs set against the backdrop of ignorant murder and mayhem - and of course, Hollywood. Each individual character is worthy of a film of their very own, but instead we’re gifted with them all on the one screen at one time in this film within a film - or is it life within a film with a fictional twist... my lips are sealed.
‘Seven Psychopaths’ is full of brilliantly awkward laughs set against the backdrop of ignorant murder and mayhem.
Yes, the film is, at times, a bit of a mess, but is that accidental or possible genius given the film’s characters and concept? One must invoke a high threshold for nonsense and crazy to sit through this one, but it’s worth it.
The cast is electric with even Tom Waits as a rabbit-loving psychopath bringing a certain quality to the production as only Tom Waits and that voice can. Walken and Rockwell are magical as the strange dognapping bedfellows, while Farrell’s dulcet Irish tones wax lyrical about right and wrong as the lines between the two become so blurred they actually become clear again - at least, until the closing credits start to roll.
‘Seven Psychopaths’ is fun. It may not have the same intelligence and street smarts as ‘In Bruges’ or Shane Black’s ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’, but it’s close.