I have to be honest: I had to look up Frances McDormand's work because again, I do not quite remember what movies she was in besides Fargo and Madeline (underrated children's movie: watch that). However, after looking at her filmography, she has one of the most impressive filmographies: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Darkman, Short Cuts, Primal Fear, Lone Star, Almost Famous, Something's Gotta Give, North Country, Moonrise Kingdom, etc. And, about every performance, she never ceases to amaze me and she is an actress that is under the radar in maybe becoming one of the best actresses for years or decades. Now, I have been hearing buzz about this movie in terms of maybe becoming an Oscar favorite. The hype is real because I see nominations across the board from this savage, dark comedy about a woman who wants to sacrifice her life by finding her daughter's killer even after seven months. This is a great movie.
A single, divorced mother named Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is still feeling grief and guilt after seven months after the rape and murder of her teen daughter, Angela. Mildred is angered by the police's lack of progress of the investigation and she rents three abandoned billboards outside her hometown. The townspeople and police officers are upset about its content including Sheriff Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) and officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell).
Despite all the harassments and comments, Mildred stays firm to her beliefs while her depressed son, Robbie (Lucas Hedges), is in much chagrin as he also gets harassed. Willoughby and Dixon try to bring down Mildred by any means necessary by removing the billboards or trying to get her on a change without bail. It becomes crazy as Charlie (John Hawkes), Mildred's ex-husband, enters into the picture, who fears what the billboards will do the family. And, there may be a complicated situation as a couple of people may be linked to the murder.
This movie starts real well as it builds incessantly and never stops and ends on a fantastic note as to where a character or characters' loyalty or loyalties lie. This movie could make a great companion piece to the chilly yet dark comedic masterpiece, Fargo, not because it has the same actress but the movie conveys the same tone and has a couple of poetic moments. Also, I praise the screenplay by director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths) as he progresses the story forward with the dialogue between people regarding character, the insight about the murder and some comedic chops. And, it is a nice balance between those three and hopefully this screenplay can get an Oscar nomination because it is sublime.
Frances McDormand delivers her best performance since Fargo. Actually, I would put her performance in another category of not just great, but perfect performances along with Fargo because even though she is crazy in her ways of standing up to the authorities, she makes a great point and delivers some insight of how maybe a local justice system works. Even though she seems like a grouchy character, she want you to win her affection and feel pain for her. McDormand is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination, and even though is early, she may be a front-runner for her 2nd Best Actress Oscar. Also, the main secondary performances by Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell are stellar as they play cops who want to seem to get on with their jobs and not go back to this issue even though there is darkness looming in regarding the "investigation". The rest of the cast is great with Lucas Hedges, John Hawkes, Peter Dinklage, Abbie Cornish and Caleb Landry Jones.
I really liked In Bruges and I thought Seven Psychopaths was a bit overrated but this is director Martin Mcdonagh's best work as he has the right touch of drama along with that dark comedy that carries you along for the ride and never look back and you will say afterwards, the trip is worth it after a final scene that is full of realism and morality. This is a modern tale of what the American portrait is being displayed in a local town and is told with such precision with laughter and sadness. With a fantastic screenplay, great performances and a fresh narrative, you will be surprised by how good this movie is. It is a superb movie that will be on Oscar voters' minds...hopefully. This is one of 2017's best movies.
****
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