Seven Psychopaths

 

If Seven Psychopaths had come out 18 years ago, it probably would have been labeled as a Pulp Fiction knock off.  The movie shares a lot of the same qualities as the Tarantino classic, such as the ability to find offbeat humor in the midst of brutal violence, smart dialogue, and an overall sense of self-awareness.  I quickly became attracted to the film's many goofy charms, and while it loses some steam during the last half, this is still one of the funniest crime caper comedies to come along in a while.

The film uses a clever "movie within a movie" gimmick as it focuses on Marty (Colin Farrell), a struggling alcoholic screenwriter who is struggling to get some work done on his latest script - a pacifist crime movie about psychopaths.  He has the title for the film ("Seven Psychopaths"), but he doesn't know who his seven main characters will be, or what's going to happen to them in his movie.  His best friend, Billy (Sam Rockwell) is eager to help.  He's constantly dropping hints that he would like to help write the script, and even puts an ad out in the paper for Marty calling for various psychopaths to show up at his door, and tell their story, hoping some of the stories they tell will inspire Marty to get some work done on his screenplay.

Billy's a nice guy, but generally kind of off.  He makes his living by kidnapping dogs belonging to well-to-do people, and then returning them to the owners for a big cash reward.  His partner in the business is Hans (Christopher Walken), who needs the money for his wife's hospital bills due to a cancer treatment.  The latest dog to become part of their scheme is a little Shih Tzu named Bonny.  Little do Marty, Billy, or Hans realize, Bonny just so happens to be the sole prized possession of notorious and violent gangster, Charlie (Woody Harrelson, giving one of his funnier comic turns since Zombieland here).  When Charlie finds out that his beloved dog is missing, he starts gunning after the people responsible.  The mostly-innocent Marty (who only gets involved because he was staying at Billy's house with the little Shih Tzu) now finds himself in a real life crime story, complete with a bizarre masked serial killer who calls himself The Jack of Diamonds, named so because of the playing cards he always leaves at his crime scenes.

Seven Psychopaths was written and directed by Martin McDonagh (In Bruges), and I can picture him having a big, goofy grin on his face the entire time he was writing this screenplay.  There are some inspired comedic scenes, such as the opening sequence that involves two hit men having a casual conversation as they wait for their next victim, not knowing that a serial killer is sneaking up behind them the entire time.  The movie is just plain fun, and you can tell that a lot of the actors are having the time of their lives in a lot of these scenes.  Walken, in particular, delivers one of his more bizarre, yet strangely reigned in, performances of his career.  His comic deadpan timing is perfect for a lot of his scenes, which skewer the cliches of lesser gangster and crime movies.

Indeed, part of the fun is that these characters almost seem to know they're in a crime movie.  While a self-aware movie can often be annoying or cheap, the screenplay is smart in how it uses it, such as the scene when Billy and Hans are critiquing Marty's early draft screenplay, and a lot of their complaints (such as the way the female characters are handled) are tied directly to what we have seen in the actual film itself.  It's hard to describe, but it works.  The dialogue is often so funny, and the action so fast, it's easy to get swept away in the fun of it all.  Unfortunately, the last half hour sags just a little.  Once the action hits the desert, some of that energy is lost.  It still remains entertaining, and there's still some great small moments (such as Walken's hilarious and honest stand off with a criminal).  It just doesn't live up to everything that came before it.

 

Even so, I laughed harder and more often at Seven Psychopaths than at any other comedy I can think of in a while.  That alone is enough for a recommendation, but the movie is also well made, and has some strong performances by the entire cast.  I'm sure this movie wasn't easy for the studio to market, but I'm glad they took a chance on it, and I hope it finds an audience.

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