Movie Review

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri uses violent means for emotional ends

In just two films, writer/director Martin McDonagh has established himself as a filmmaker with unusual tastes, marrying dialogue and violence in ways reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino. His first two films — In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths — have become cult classics because of their distinct characters and styles, making his next film a must-see no matter the subject.

The unwieldy title of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is the first indication that audience members will be taken on a different kind of ride than they may be used to. Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), upset with the lack of resolution in her daughter’s murder case, puts up three billboards near her home on the outskirts of town, calling out Sheriff Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) for not being able to find the killer.

Hayes’ actions cause a ripple effect throughout the community. Not everyone agrees with her tactic, especially the dimwitted and volatile Officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell). But the more challenges she gets, the more determined she becomes, even if that means that she must commit acts of violence herself.

McDonagh has to strike a tricky balance in the film, keeping us on the side of a grieving mother even as she does things that are way out of bounds of accepted societal behavior. He does so by softening her outbursts with quieter moments like planting flowers underneath the billboards or reminiscing about her daughter, always keeping her motives at the forefront.

Despite what the advertising may lead you to believe, the film is not a bloody and profane free-for-all. It has its fair share of violence, but the story mostly meanders as Hayes interacts with Willoughby, Dixon, her son (Lucas Hedges), ex-husband (John Hawkes), and more. The profanity is so over the top at times, including out-of-the-blue slurs, that it’s mostly for comic effect.

Unfortunately, the plot wanders so much that it includes a handful of seemingly unnecessary subplots. One involves James (Peter Dinklage) and seems to have no purpose other than for him to be called “midget” multiple times. Thankfully, the film recovers in its final act, delivering an unexpected coda that satisfies in a way that stays true to the story without wrapping everything up in a tidy bow.

What makes Three Billboards especially different is that it offers no easy answers. Standard films would have Hayes unequivocally be the protagonist and Willoughby and Dixon be the bad guys. But McDonagh throws all kinds of nuance into the equation, a highly unusual approach for this type of movie, which keeps the audience off-balance through most of the running time.

McDormand has been giving standout performances for over 30 years, with somehow only four Oscar nominations (and one win, for Fargo) to show for it. She should be assured of a fifth nomination for this role, in which she runs a true gamut of emotions without making any of them seem false or contrived.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is at once exactly the type of movie McDonagh likes to make and something completely new. At various points, it’s thoughtful, hilarious, touching, and violent, and somehow all of them meld together for one great experience.

Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Photo by Merrick Morton

Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Movie Review

The End of Oak Street can't live up to its Spielberg inspirations

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway in The End of Oak Street

Photo by Daniel McFadden

Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway in The End of Oak Street.

Steven Spielberg is the iconic director of the last 50 years, so it’s no surprise that many other filmmakers have borrowed from his classic films. But most of the time those come in the form of references or homages, not straight up theft, which is what it feels like watching The End of Oak Street play out in front of your eyes.

Set in the early 1980s in an idyllic suburban neighborhood of an unnamed city, Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) are parents to two teenagers, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery). They’re also possibly heading toward divorce, as Audrey is secretly writing a novel with a thinly-veiled plot about their life, and Brian is cagey about having to earn extra money with a pizza delivery job.

That all gets put on the backburner when a mysterious event takes their entire neighborhood back to the time of dinosaurs. Armed with little more than a shotgun and sledgehammer, Audrey and Brian do their best to keep the family safe in their house. But the longer the ordeal goes on, circumstances force them out onto the streets and into the increasing danger that’s all around them.

Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell, the film tries immensely hard to be like the Spielberg movies its filmmaker clearly adores, but fails at almost every turn. It never earns the broken family in ‘80s suburbia vibes that were prevalent in E.T., going all in right away in the opening scene with a neighborhood block party that feels forced. Other elements like a bully who has it out for Brian, the family dog that disappears, and an angry neighbor come across as the tropes they are and not as organic parts of the plot.

When it finally gets to its dinosaur sequences, they pale in comparison to those found in Jurassic Park. The strange manner in which the dinosaurs appear is a big part of that, but the action involving them forgoes ominous moments that could build tension for those that play up gore in an unexpected way for a PG-13 movie. Many of the attacks have so little emotional meaning that they come off as comical, which is entertaining but in a hollow way.

As if those weren’t enough, Mitchell - perhaps at the behest of producer J.J. Abrams (who made his own Spielbergian film, Super 8) - tries to honor Spielberg in other ways. Just like in Jaws, he employs the use of a split diopter lens, which keeps characters in both the foreground and background in focus. But instead of using it judiciously, it’s brought out in three separate scenes, including a laughable one with the four family members where it turns into overkill.

Hathaway, coming off of a role in The Odyssey that could earn her an Oscar nomination, is the best part of this film. But even her evident skills are dragged down by the ridiculousness of the story, which requires hysterics that even she can’t sell. McGregor can normally be counted on for a good performance, but he gives several line readings with strange cadences that make his already-underwritten character come off worse. Stella and Convery are okay, but their roles are unmemorable overall.

Mitchell and his team can never settle on exactly what type of film they were trying to make, and so even though The End of Oak Street has a few moments that work, they’re surrounded by many others that don’t. In trying to emulate Spielberg - there’s even a blatant Back to the Future (produced by Spielberg) rip-off towards the end - all Mitchell has done is show how difficult it is to be the master.

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The End of Oak Street opens in theaters on August 14.

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