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In 2008, writer/director Martin McDonagh caught audiences off-guard with his clever action-comedy debut, In Bruges. But while fans and critics alike were eager to see more from this eccentric director, it took more than four long years for McDonagh to release the appropriately bizarre follow-up, Seven Psychopaths.
Struggling screenwriter Marty (Colin Farrell) can’t seem to get anywhere with his latest script. He’s got a title—Seven Psychopaths—and a couple of hazy ideas, but that’s about it.
Marty’s best friend, Billy (Sam Rockwell), is more of a distraction than anything else. Billy tries to help his friend by placing an ad seeking psychotic inspiration in LA Weekly. But the distraction turns deadly when Billy and his friend, Hans (Christopher Walken), kidnap a Shih Tzu named Bonny, who just happens to belong to a crazed mob boss (Woody Harrelson).
Perhaps there’s something just a little bit autobiographical about this wacky action-comedy. After all, the main character’s name is Marty—a screenwriter who’s battling writer’s block and a love of booze in his attempt to crank out a brilliant new script. Since it took McDonagh more than four years to follow-up his successful debut, there’s a pretty good chance that he struggled with a little bit of writer’s block along the way. But I doubt that his own journey was quite as insane as his on-screen counterpart’s.
Seven Psychopaths is wildly unpredictable. Like In Bruges, it’s action-packed and violent. It’s sometimes surprisingly dramatic. And, most of all, it’s outrageously hilarious. From its chatty, Tarantino-esque opening scene to its brutal conclusion, it combines long, clever conversations, explosive violence, and outlandish humor to keep viewers constantly on their toes.
The story is layered and disjointed and completely random, with Marty’s strange fictional characters often injecting themselves into the middle of the action. In the midst of dognappings and mysterious mob killings, Marty will take a break to tell the bizarre story of The Quaker Psychopath—or the Vietnamese Psychopath who uses a prostitute to get vengeance on his American enemies. And then, completely out of the blue, there’s Zachariah (Tom Waits), who answers Billy’s ad and shows up to tell his own murderous tale of love and loss.
No matter how random and disjointed it may be though, it’s also strangely fascinating, filled with interconnected stories that were written with a dark and twisted sense of humor. At times, it rambles a bit more than it should, and it’s sometimes just plain perplexing—but that’s all just a part of its eccentric charm. And it’s all made even more entertaining by the remarkably funny cast.
So does Seven Psychopaths live up to more than four years of anticipation? Not exactly. It’s not necessarily the brilliant follow-up that fans of In Bruges were hoping to see. Still, it’s wild and crazy and often ridiculously clever—and, if nothing else, it’s one unexpected thrill ride that’s sure to keep you guessing from beginning to end.
DVD Review:
The DVD release of this wild and crazy adventure comes complete with some wild and crazy extras.
On the special features menu, you’ll find a handful of behind-the-scenes clips. Following a brief overview of the film (Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths), others cover topics like the variety of Los Angeles locations (in Crazy Locations) and the characters (Colin Farrell is Marty and Woody Harrelson is Charlie)—all in just a minute or two each.
For more wacky Seven Psychopaths fun, though, check out Layers, a minute-long mash-up of clips from the film—or, my personal favorite, Seven Psychocats, an outrageously funny mock-trailer using cats as stand-ins for the cast members.
Since these wildly entertaining extras are all super-short, I recommend working your way through the entire special features menu. It’ll take less than 15 minutes of your time, and you’re guaranteed plenty of laughs.
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