“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” — A retrospective
The multi Oscar winner remains a beautiful gem.
“Because there ain’t no God, the whole world’s empty”
So laments “Mildred Hayes” in the shape of Frances McDormand on her way to her second Oscar win at the 2018 Academy Awards and who, at the time of writing, has now secured both a third and a fourth Gold Oscar statuette for her incredible central performance in 2021’s Nomadland, a film she would also share her fourth award as part of the producing team for another bittersweet lament, this time to the nomadic travelling families from America’s wasteland of forgotten towns. I have long held an acting love for Frances McDormand which traces all the way back to 1996 and the first of her husband’s truly great masterpieces of modern cinema. Frances is married to Joel Coen who, along with his brother Ethan, are the world renowned film directing Coen Brothers and whenever the need arises for me hide from a wicked world, I turn to their classic of all time from 1996, Fargo. Quixotically, the cinematic brothers don’t actually sugar coat the wicked world but paint it in surreal colours as well as the awkward life events that befall a central character who sees a kaleidoscope of chaos coming their way and, run as they might, can never, ever, avoid. Frances wasn’t the marquee star name or indeed central character in Fargo, but she became both as halfway through she entered the maelstrom of madness in the unforgiving cold and snow of Fargo, North Dakota, and stole both the film and my cinematic heart.
Here again she shares top billing with Woody Harrelson and fellow Oscar winner Sam Rockwell, but it’s Mildred’s horrific story to tell via those infamous billboards, and a majestic performance from Frances McDormand. Actors and actresses are always keen to trot out the same line post a successful film — “it’s all there on the page” they’ll say, and we’ll get to the part played here by writer and director Martin McDonagh shortly. But Frances McDormand may break your heart as she seethes with the righteous anger of dealing with the unimaginable horror of burying your only daughter at such a young age, and she may well do so again as she converses with a passing dear as she tends to the flowers of remembrance below those titular billboards, and their mixed messages of desperation, anger and a need for justice. In many ways, this role mirrors that of her Oscar wining portrayal four years later in Nomadland: Singular, detached, determined and seeking a justifiable closure to move on with her life, and we very definitely “see” the film through her eyes, movements and righteous determination. But whilst re-watching this recently, I had a firmer appreciation for the roles of her co-stars and the narrative layers they provide.
Longer term readers of my deliberately spoiler free film reviews will be aware of the recent adulation I’ve pored forth on the acting prowess of Sam Rockwell (See How They Run, Moon, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) and that I’ve elevated him to one of the greatest character actors of his generation ahead of his dearly missed friend Philip Seymour Hoffman. Here he demonstrates that lofty compliment in spades, imbuing an already vile and distasteful character written by McDonagh with verbal and physical tics alongside repugnant stares and glares of a young man wholly out of control. Rockwell’s performance joined that of McDormand in collecting an Oscar in 2018, and he’d follow this a year later with another Oscar nominated performance for another repugnant “character”, that of George W Bush in Adam McKay’s brilliantly flawed Vice.
Writer director Martin McDonagh created and curated a cast of supporting characters and actors befitting a brilliant story that twists and reverses its way through 115 minutes of recommended cinematic fare. Peter Dinklage (Games of Thrones), Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea) and Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out) have all become household names and yet again, and very pleasing to this particular long time fan, John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene) lends himself to a fantastic cameo role that shouldn’t be overlooked. Please also do not discount the return once more of Woody Harrelson. If you see the film through his eyes as well as the angry lady seeking justice and retribution for a monstrous life changing crime, maybe you’ll enjoy this film as much as I do.
As at the time of writing I have yet to see Martin McDonagh’s recent literary and directorial creation, this years The Banshees of Inisherin. The nearest cinema showing his latest film is over 30 miles away and I’m awaiting a release nearer to my home cinema! I’ve seen Martin’s previous three films, Three Billboards plus Seven Psychopaths in 2012 and In Bruges in 2008 multiple times and so eagerly await his latest offering. If he continues with the template of his cinematic career to date, I’m expecting an irreverence laced acidic tongued dramatic comedy and although the comedy is largely absent here except for the most extreme use of jarring if still heart rending moments, his multi Oscar winner here in 2017 has all of the above and so much more.
Redemption. Salvation. Justice. Grief. Loss. Justice. And all because of three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri, the written word of the film’s director, a collision with real life and a very pleasing trail it’s blazed into our real world and of course, the stellar acting portrayals of Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell and my cinematic love, Frances McDormand.
For what it’s worth, this is highly recommended.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film and television articles are linked below or there’s well over 100 blog articles (with 300+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
