Sam Rockwell

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI: raw emotion and dark hilarity

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Frances McDormand in THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

In Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, a powerful combination of raw emotions and dark hilarity, Frances McDormand plays Mildred, a small town woman consumed by the unsolved murder of her daughter.  Mildred doesn’t have the power to solve the murder herself, but she has the power to make everyone else uncomfortable until she finds justice and closure.  She buys billboards that personalize the stalled murder investigation, laying the blame on the popular town sheriff (Woody Harrelson).  She intends to rile people up, and, boy, does she succeed.

There are consequences, both intended and unintended.  In addition to the murder mystery, there are two new whodunits related to the billboards and some violent outbursts by two of the characters.  There’s a heartbreaking letter, and two more utterly unexpected letters.

The murder of one’s child is shattering enough, but Mildred also piles guilt on herself.  The murder has enraged the entire family, including Mildred’s son (Lucas Hedges of Manchester By the Sea) and her ex-husband (John Hawkes).  All three express their rage in different ways.  This is a showcase role for McDormand.

Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell in THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

This might be Woody Harrelson’s best performance.  His sheriff is an island of common sense, decency and levelheadedness in a turbulent sea of upset and idiocy.  The character of the sheriff is a remarkably fine father and husband in ways that are fun and interesting to watch.   The sheriff is facing his own mortality, and his feelings are hurt unjustly, but we only see glimpses of the pain in Harrelson’s eyes.  This is a performance that would have been in the wheelhouse for Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda and Gregory Peck, and Harrelson nails it.

Sam Rockwell plays Dixon, one of the sheriff’s deputies.  Dixon is an unfortunate muddle of bad instincts, no impulse control, stupidity, racism and rage.   Then he gets an unexpected opportunity for redemption…

Sandy Martin also sparkles as Dixon’s Momma.  It’s a very small part, but Martin practically steals the movie  with her white trash Svengali. Martin’s 128 screen credits include roles in Transparent, Big Love and as Grandma in Napoleon Dynamite (she’s the one who says Knock it off, Napoleon! Just make yourself a dang quesa-dilluh).

Samara Weaving is really perfect as the inappropriately-young-girlfriend-on-the-rebound of Mildred’s ex.  Weaving is drop dead beautiful with a remarkable sense of comic timing and a mastery of deadpan.  Fully invested in her character’s goodhearteredness and  airheadedness, she reminds me of Margot Robbie and Elizabeth Banks as a comic actor.

Peter Dinklage plays a character that provides comic relief and one important plot point, and he brings an unexpected and profound feeling to the part.

Here’s one thing that is uncommonly great about Three Billboards:  the story would have worked with characters of far less dimension, but the roles written by Martin McDonagh and performed by the cast elevates Three Billboards.  Mildred could have been only a shrew, the sheriff could have been only a cardboard foil and Dixon could have been only a buffoon.  Instead McDormand, Rockwell and Rochwell add layers of complexity to their characters, and Hawkes, Martin, Weaver and Dinklage each contribute more to the mix.

Three Billboards is brilliantly written by director Martin McDonagh.  McDonagh’s 2008 In Bruges was either the funniest hit man movie ever or the darkest and most violent buddy comedy ever.  Three Billboards shares the same dark/funny flavor.   Three Billboards also has a really fine soundtrack with a couple of spaghetti western-inspired cues.

The emotion in Three Billboards is genuine and deeply felt.  There are some especially grim moments, peppered with lots of laughs.   As I ponder this film, I keep coming back to the characters, the performances and the surprises in the story. Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri was an audience favorite on the festival circuit and is a Must See in theaters now.

DON VERDEAN: money changers in the temple

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DON VERDEAN
Jermaine Clement, Amy Ryan and Sam Rockwell in DON VERDEAN

Don Verdean is a dark comedy from filmmakers Jared and Jerusha Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), a smart and cynical take on the faux scientists embraced by the Christian Right.  Sam Rockwell plays the title character, a Christian “archaeologist” of dubious credentials and ethics who keeps “discovering” Biblical relics and marketing them to gullible true believers.

Verdean and his assistants (Amy Ryan and Jermaine Clement) find themselves entangled with rival pastors, both charlatans.  One is a former convict (Danny McBride) with a former hooker wife (Leslie Bibb); the other is a former Satanist (Will Forte) with his own bogus academic henchman (Sky Elobar).  The cast is all good.  Sam Rockwell sounds like he is channeling a TV preacher version of Sam Elliott.

But the real revelation is Jermaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords, who plays Verdean’s Israeli fixer, Boaz.  The Hesses start Boaz out as a footnote and then gradually develop him into one of the lead characters.  Clement imbues Boaz with an unintentional sneer, a sometimes puzzling Hebrew accent and ascendant venality.  Clement even gets a very funny dance bit (less extended and sidesplitting than the one in Napoleon Dynamite but funny nonetheless).

Jared and Jerusha Hess are the team behind Napoleon Dynamite, a pretty solid comedy credential.  The Hesses know of what they write.  They’re not just Hollywood religion-mockers – both attended BYU.

Here’s an example.  The Hesses gave Clement’s character the name of Boaz.  Those who know the Old Testament story of Ruth (we’re only talking Jews and Fundamentalist Christians here) will recognize Boaz as a major Good Guy.  Some may even know that Boaz was an ancestor of both David and Jesus, who some scholars see as a “pre-figure” of Christ.  But Boaz is a Biblical name that nobody gives their kid – so you never meet a Boaz today.  Given the arc of the Boaz character in Don Verdean, the name is brilliantly ironic.

There are more cynical chuckles here than there are gut-busting guffaws.   In one particularly inspired touch, the Hesses inserted Put Your Hand in the Hand into the soundtrack.  Don Verdean is a little movie that’s sure to be overlooked during the big Holiday movie season, but there aren’t many good comedies in theaters now, so it’s a good choice for those looking for a dark indie comedy.

The Way, Way Back: when parents are no help whatsoever

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THE WAY WAY BACK

In the appealing coming of age story The Way, Way Back,  a betrodden teen (Liam James) gains confidence when mentored at his summer job by a lowlife (Sam Rockwell).  The kid’s mom (Toni Collette) has been rocked by a divorce (hubby found a young thing), and has rediscovered some self esteem in the attentions of a creep (Steve Carrell).  Now the kid, his mom, her insufferable boyfriend and the boyfriend’s bratty daughter are off to his summer home on the Atlantic shore.  The kid finds a job at a cheesy local water park, and funny stuff happens.

In depicting the ways that parents make their teen kids miserable, The Way, Way Back is spot on.  I’m not talking about the uncool cluelessness that makes all teens embarrassed about the even most perfect parents.  The Way, Way Back focuses on children from broken marriages who are made to feel unvalued or whose weaknesses are picked at or whose parents become too involved with their own issues.  Indeed all the kids in The Way, Way Back come from divorced families.  Even one childless marriage (Rob Corddry from Warm Bodies and Amanda Peet) is very imperfect.

Collette’s performance nails the desperation of a woman, once abandoned, for a relationship that will meet at least some of her needs.  Alison Janney is hilarious as the neighboring divorcee who is embracing her alcoholism.  The rest of the cast, including Maya Rudolph, is good, too.  Give credit to Carrell for taking on a very unsympathetic role, something not every bankable star will do.

It may not be a Must See, but The Way, Way Back is sweet, perceptive and pretty funny.

Seven Psychopaths: just not the sum of its parts

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Upon leaving the theater, The Wife asked the revelatory question: “How come it wasn’t as good as its parts?”.  True, Seven Psychopaths is well-acted by a very deep team of my favorite actors and is embedded with belly laughs, but, as a whole, it’s just not that satisfying.

Colin Farrell plays an alcoholic writer struggling to get past the title of his new screenplay. He expertly plays the straight man against an assortment of raging oddballs.  Sam Rockwell is brilliant as the writer’s not-a-good-influence friend who, underneath a shiftless exterior, is profoundly psychopathic. Christopher Walken hits another home run as a dignified eccentric. And Woody Harrelson plays a pedal-to-the-metal raging psycho crime boss as only he can.

The supporting cast includes the immortal Harry Dean Stanton, Abbie Cornish, Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Michael Pitt (The Dreamers, Boardwalk Empire), Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man), Olga Kuylenko and the always reliable Zeljko Ivanek.   The best performances are by Tom Waits (as a bunny-petting retired serial killer) and Linda Bright Clay (as Walken’s tough-as-nails wife).

But the story isn’t tight enough.  Writer-director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) (who doesn’t admire Quentin Tarantino) here only delivers Tarantino Lite.  Instead, I recommend McDonagh’s brilliant In Bruges (and The Guard which McDonagh produced).  For those who like dark, dark comedy with lots of violence, Seven Psychopaths is entertaining.  For everyone else, nothing special.

Why I already hate Conviction

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It’s common that a movie trailer will turn me off from seeing a film that I suspect is bad. But sometimes a trailer makes me think that it’s a pretty good movie that I don’t want to see, either. That’s the case with Conviction, the story of a young woman whose brother is convicted of murder; over 18 years, she gets her GED, her college and law degrees and begins a legal struggle to clear him and rescue him from Death Row.  It’s an Oscar vehicle for Hilary Swank, who plays the sister, and what appears to be another fine performance by Sam Rockwell, who plays the brother.  It’s based on the true story of one Betty Anne Waters.

The problem for me is that the film looks self righteous, overly earnest and humorless. It’s just too damn inspirational.  Melissa Leo, who can add texture to any performance, apparently has been given a one-note cardboard cut-out role of a close-minded cop.

And here’s a lawyer’s quibble:  You wouldn’t expect somebody right out of night law school to overturn a murder conviction with a well-reasoned appeal – and she doesn’t. Instead, she gets the Innocence Project to test the DNA, which clears the brother (that isn’t a spoiler if you’ve seen the trailer).  Now you don’t need to go to law school to involve the Innocence Project – they get involved on the wishes of the non-lawyer relatives of convicts all the time.  So the 18-year struggle may be extraordinary, but that’s not what gets the brother off.

This trailer reminds me of the one for The Duchess, which featured Keira Knightly adorned in 18th century finery in a spectacular shot with hundreds of candles – and made me want to gag.  No The Duchess for me.

Speaking of trailers, I really enjoy another (even more irreverent) WordPress blog, The Trailer Trashers. Their tag line is “The only critics who dare review movies BEFORE we see them”.  Yes, they review the trailers.  Give them a look see.