Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2017
****
Director: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, Željko Ivanek, Caleb Landry Jones, Samara Weaving, Kerry Condon
Mildred Hayes is an embittered mother who rents three billboards outside the town of Ebbing to bring attention to the unsolved rape and murder of her 17-year-old daughter. This brings her at loggerheads with Jason Dixon, a heavy-drinking and short-tempered redneck cop. Martin McDonagh's entertaining and foul-mouthed dark comedy offers a lovely slice of small town americana. The film features a terrific collection of characters, most of whom are capable of both good and evil. Although many of these characters are based on stereotypes, they are wonderfully drawn and played, apart from Abbie Cornish, who is just miscast (the script doesn't explain how a small town sheriff ended up marrying a beautiful foreign woman 20 years his junior). Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell both won Academy Awards for their stellar performances.
