Movie Review: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

I don’t know why it took me so long to see this movie. I love Martin McDonagh as a playwright, and I’ve really enjoyed all of his screenplays and even his direction, as In Bruges is one of my favorite movies. I guess I just wasn’t wild about seeing him do such an American story. He just didn’t seem right for it.

And it’s possible he wasn’t. This movie would probably be better as a Coen Brothers movie (Frances McDormand is indeed in it) or even better, an Alexander Payne movie (Nebraska wasn’t his script), but it’s still pretty damn good on its own. And a good deal of that is due to the acting.

McDormand and Rockwell very much deserved their Oscars.

And Woody Harrelson fittingly got a nomination as well. He might have been my favorite part of the movie, but he’s a much smaller part.

If I have a complaint it’s that Rockwell’s character changes in a fairly unrealistic way. I think his character starts out so grounded, if a bit silly, but then he changes after a very “movie” thing happens to him.

It’s a shame because the movie itself feels otherwise very grounded — not just his character. The movie criticizes the police in a very poignant way, but only up to a point.

Even though I may sound kind of negative, I did enjoy it.

Rating: 8/10