"Seven Psychopaths" is one of those films that succeeds with the "Quentin Tarantino" formula of great performances, witty story, and incredible well-written dialouge. But although the director's chair is not taken by Tarantino this time, Martin McDonagh, director of the overlooked "In Bruges", helps pay tribute to this formula, and Tarantino himself, as he both writes and directs this ridiculously enjoyable romp. Similar to the works of Tarantino, "Seven Psychopaths" is a collection of well-developed stories that involve incredibly well-written conversations between characters, and they talk about "nothing". But, don't worry, there's actually a story involved. In the film, Colin Farrell plays an Irish playwright who's struggling to start writing his newest screenplay called "Seven Psychopaths", hence the title of the film. But as he meets certain people in his life, he starts getting ideas for some characters, or psychopaths, to be in his script. Meanwhile, a few friends of the playwright, Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken play this group of guys who kidnap dogs for a living, and they return them back to their owner, so they can win the reward money. But now, Farrell is stuck in a sticky situation in the criminal underworld, after both Rockwell and Walken accidentally steal the wrong dog, a shih-tzu, whose owner is a violent mob-gangster, played by Woody Harrelson, who will do anything to get his dog back, even if it means killing people. "Seven Psychopaths", although it has a few moments of disappoint, is still one of this year's unlikely better films. Writer-director Martin McDonagh brings out some fresh British comic humor, intense moments of gore, and one of the most well-written scripts of the whole year, and puts it all together into one motion picture. Throughout the film, I was consistently laughing my butt off, from start to finish. As for the acting, you cannot go wrong with any of these talented actors. Colin Farrell does great as always, delivering one of his memorable performances. Woody Harrelson is also terrific as the gangster with a deep love for his stolen shih-tzu. But the two stand-out performances come from Sam Rockwell as a psychopath who tries to make a reality out of his buddy's script, and the one and only Christopher Walken as the "non-violent" psychopath with a haunting past. The rest of the supporting cast also includes familiar names from Harry Dean Stanton, Olga Kurylenko, Abbie Cornish, and Tom Waits. There are some times when the gore disturbed me a little bit, and it's a little disappointing how some characters are introduced and then suddenly gone afterwards, and the 110-minute running time does drag a little. But does are luckily minor issues I have with this psychopathic flick. Although I was expecting to officially praise the film, I did end up really liking it, though! This movie does a perfectly good job of keeping tribute to the work of Tarantino, without it being a rip-off to Tarantino. The acting is phenomenal, the writing is incredible, the humor is hilarious, and the tone is surprisingly dark. "Seven Psychopaths" is definitely worth the time and money. "Seven Psychopaths", in my review, "genuine writing and acting, a dark and gritty Tarantino tribute".
Review of Seven Psychopaths
Seven Psychopaths
(2012)
Seven Psychopaths (2012) - A Tarantino Homage! Not a Tarantino Rip-Off!
3 November 2012