Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Very well executed

Memorable, crazy movie

Absolutely brilliant

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Seven PsychopathsThe scrutiny in here doesn't build up sincerely to create the anticipated impact and addition to that the process; if not rudimentary, certainly isn't convoluted or humorous as the makers think which open the portal of such ridiculous and dull sequences that one fails to bare it on screen. The writing is engaging as there is a lot of fresh material to catch up to and works just fine on such term, but if considered for craft, it is no "In Bruges" or "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri". Martin McDonagh; the director, is adequate on executing the feature and works its way up with his brilliant skills but as a writer, he needed a lot of work especially in its structure which isn't stable at all and collapses before it even picks itself up. The performance objective is fulfilled in here by a potential cast like Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson. It is short on technical aspects like sound department and editing. Seven Psychopaths is outnumbered by the clock and the characters where either the makers should have gone long and easy or hit hard and fast.

As this film opens a couple of killers discuss a hit they are preparing for; then a man approaches from behind and shoots each of them before placing a Jack of Hearts on each body. We then cut to struggling screen writer Marty. He is working on a screenplay titled 'Seven Psychopaths' and his friend Billy is helping him by providing various anecdotes he might use... he also posts an advert in the paper inviting psychopaths to tell Marty their stories. That is the least of their worries though; Billy has stolen a dog belonging to psychotic gangster Charlie's beloved pet Shih Tzu. Charlie will do anything to get it back and that means killing anybody close to the person who took it. As the story continues it is clear that the things that happen will provide Marty with his story... assuming he can survive of course.This black comedy certainly won't be for everybody; it is violent, sometimes very violent and the language is stronger than I expected in a '15' certificate film. If you can get past this though it is very funny. The way the various anecdotes tie in to the main story is well done and not too obvious. The four main characters were a lot of fun; Colin Farrell impresses as Marty, a man clearly out of his depth; Sam Rockwell puts in a fine performance as Billy, a character who is more than a little disturbed and Christopher Walken is great as Hans, a peaceful character with a past. There is also a solid performance from Woody Harrelson as antagonist Charlie. There are plenty of laughs to be had but also some real shocks; especially in the scene where we learn the identity of the 'Jack of Diamonds' psychopath. Overall I enjoyed this although perhaps not quite as much as writer/director Martin McDonagh's 'In Bruges'... I'd certainly recommend it to anybody who enjoyed that film.

Some movies just aren't worth watching twice b4 returning them back to Netflix. I like to watch movies again to get the whole pictures meaning and view etc. Seven Psychopath's is not that kind of a movie. The gore is just gross and the herd of rabbits makes for an intended "bad dream" movie. The woman who saws people's heads off and slashes people is just stupid and a hit woman added to the movie. The actors are good it's just the gore and bunnies and the shoot'em up gore sessions that make for a dumb movie. Didn't go with the plot of the movie. A Next Day return and a wasted week of waiting for the next movie to get here. Choose a better movie. This is not listed as blood and gore movie either. It Ruined the movie.

With such a talented cast and being so impressed by 2008's 'In Bruges' and the recent 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri', hopes were high for 'Seven Psychopaths' despite its severely wanting marketing. A large part of me really enjoyed it on the whole, but there are a few misses and part of me was disappointed. It is director Martin McDonagh's weakest film of the three feature films he directed, but that is comparing it to 'In Bruges' and 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri' and that it is still good if patchy is testament to how good (if also divisive and imperfect) those films are. It is very easy to see why people would be underwhelmed by 'Seven Psychopaths', not just for its unevenness but LAO for its unsubtle, very violent, very foul-mouthed nature and lack of political correctness, just as much as it is easy to see why others will enjoy it. 'Seven Psychopaths' has a good deal to like. It's very gritty and stylish visually, with the editing succinct and not choppy, perfect for the genre and what it's lampooning and challenging. The soundtrack is both catchy and atmospheric and McDonagh's direction is consistently assured. Much of the script hits more than it misses. Although lacking in the emotion of 'In Bruges' and especially 'Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri', the dark comedy often ranges from very funny to hilarious and there is also moral complexity, very clever and razor sharp wit, lampooning, lambasting and subversion of all the genre clichés and how the script should play out. The violence is unsettling but not too gratuitous and the story is deliberate yet gripping. There are memorable scenes, especially Sam Rockwell's dream shoot-out scene, a comedic delight if there ever was one. Regarding the performances, Rockwell is great fun, and seems to be having a whale of a time, and Christopher Walken oozes charisma. Woody Harrelson is also great. There are drawbacks here in 'Seven Psychopaths'. There are patchy parts in the script, where the wit slackens and the writing becomes too conventional and even for what it's poking fun at (the genre clichés) it does get too clichéd.Especially misfiring is how the female roles are written, although intended to mock how they're written and used is not very tasteful (can sort of see where the misogyny complaints come from) and they are so under-utilised that it gives the female cast very little to do.Colin Farrell is nowhere near as good as he was in 'In Bruges'. The character is very bland and uninteresting, and Farrell just doesn't have the charisma of Walken, the likeability of Harrelson or the comic timing of Rockwell to pull the character off or make much of him. The ending is both contrived and abrupt, very true of McDonagh's other two films as well and indicative that ideas had run out.Overall, good and enjoyable but uneven. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox