Seven Psychopaths

I love comedies, so when I saw my first trailer of "Seven Psychopaths", I came to the realization that this was a film I could really sink my teeth into. Well, in the same framework of "In Bruges", "Little Miss Sunshine", "Bernie" and "It's Kind of a Funny Story" comes a film that not only is funny, but also smart.

This quirky, somewhat weird comedy follows a struggling screenwriter, Marty (Colin Farrell) who inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends Hans (Christopher Walken) and Billy (Sam Rockwell) kidnap a gangster, Charlie's (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu.
After being drunk and getting thrown out of his house by his wife, Kaya (Abbie Cornish), Marty ends up on his buddy, Billy's couch and starts to poor his heart out about his screenplay in which he has the name-- "Seven Psychopaths", but not really any story written down. So the two consult about it, because Marty can't go with the psychopaths being the normal, violent type. As Billy proceeds to list the different guys he knows, Marty starts realising how very psycho these guys are and starts getting ideas. However, when you continue to surround yourself around psychopaths, one ends up getting more than ideas.

Others to round out the cast are Tom Waits as Zachariah, Linda Bright Clay as Myra, wife of Hans, Zeljko Ivanek as Paulo, Charlie's henchman, Long Nguyen as Vietnamese Priest, Michael Pitt as Larry, Michael Stuhlbarg as Tommy, Gabourey Sidibe as Sharice, Christine Marzano as The Hooker, and Harry Dean Stanton as Man in Hat.

As this writer and director, Martin McDonagh ("In Bruges" '08) has been a playwright before he started in the screenwriting business gives him that edge that most newer screenwriters wouldn't have without that prior experience. His style definitely has that in-your-face, confrontational, even vulgar approach to it, which makes it a bit tough to watch, but with all objectivity, this style is very well executed. And with the cast he chose, the story couldn't go wrong.

This film is not for a mass audience, but if you like fine writing, directing, and acting. this vehicle will make you wonder why you would settle for the typical toilet humor, fart joke comedies we are besieged with all too often.

Out of 4 stars: 3.5                       Rated: R                        111mins.