One of the best movies of the year. McDormand and Rockwell should both take home an Oscar next year. Loved everything about this movie.

This was very good. The script was incredibly well-written and had a ton of surprising twists. Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell were both fantastic and I also loved Woody Harrelson. A-

Best movie of the year so far. Deserves to sweep the awards season.

With the investigation into her teenage daughter's murder growing colder by the day, an enraged mother rents three billboards on a rural road, placing messages harshly criticizing the local police. Following In Bruges (one of my favorite films of the century so far) and Seven Psychopaths, this is another acerbic, distinctive, and profane film by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. Frances McDormand is an aching, tightly wound force of nature in a role tailor-made for her, but the film's most accomplished performance is delivered by Sam Rockwell. He excellently charts the peculiar-but-convincing arc of his character, who begins as a racist and reactionary deputy.

B+

One casting choice I found odd: Abbie Cornish. I love her due to Bright Star and Somersault and am glad she is in such a well-received film, particularly after enduring Geostorm earlier this year, but...hmm. There is just a certain sore-thumb quality to the fact this folksy, pushing-60 rural sheriff has a gorgeous, much younger, conspicuously Australian wife.

I caught this when I was in New York a few weeks back and its pretty darn good. A black comedy going for authenticity is hard to pull off. The amount of cynicism needed will eventually turn people absurd. This is the main reason I'm not always crazy about other directors doing Coen's movies. Three Billboard counters this with its theme of "forgive .. eventually." Francis' war with Woody Harrelson is not mean spirited, he understands why she did it more than anyone else and actually admires her for that.

A couple unexpected turns midway through the story elevate the product. The first, which I won't spoil, is like a gunshot to the head of what we were expecting for the rest of the story. And its the catalyst for the second turn, a seemingly unredeemable person getting a terrific redemption angle. This all ties back in, with one character asking forgiveness and the other earning it.

While the movie does run on a little too long , I am glad they did what was necessary to leave it open-ended. Too strong of a leaning in either direction would have really hurt.

I thought this was weird too. Especially since dating a younger woman is looked at as a major character flaw in John Hawkes.

I had a misunderstanding that this was based on a true story, so the abstract ending caught me off guard. I am glad that the gift shop creeper didn't turn out to be the real culprit (since that would have been too TV movie perfect). I don't think I fully bought Sam Rockwell character's change in heart.

Overall, it kept my attention and had some great performances.

B


My wife and I found it weird too.

I admired the ambitious improbability of Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri. Plot twists so sharp they could cause whiplash. 180° perspective changes on characters. Yep, it's a pretty darn good melodramatic potboiler. The only downside is an unfortunate recurring Hollywood gloss to the production that took me out of the moment on occasion. *B+*

There were two moments in the film where there was a full-on laugh out loud scene followed literally one second later by a truly horrific plot reveal. It's a jarringly impressive feat to have the audience turn on a dime from full guffaw to gasping silence - very unusual and effective technique.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Awesome, awesome, awesome film. Every scene, every line is a home run. The screenplay is gold. It is hilarious and heartfelt and empowering. Each facet of the film's fabric holds strong. The humour does not spoil the serious, and vice-versa. And everyone is on top form. Frances McDormand is sensational and bad ass. So many scenes/lines of greatness. My favourite has to be the altar boy monologue. Priceless. And Sam Rockwell, well, I don't think I've ever seen him better. I do not think I have ever found a character as funny as Dixon and also at times felt pity and distaste for him, but Rockwell manages it. Burwell's score is also just brilliant.

A+

Really solid film. I've seen In Bruges which I really enjoyed, but this definitely makes me want to check out these directors other films. Frances McDormand is just a badass in in this and I loved pretty much every line of her dialogue, especially the altar boy speech lol which Algren already pointed out, but it truly is a great scene. Sam Rockwell is also brilliant in this and I found it interesting how they made a character equally hilarious and despicable at the same time. I don't know how much I bought his redemption arc either, but when he does try to change his ways I thought performance wise Rockwell still did an awesome job selling it. I do wish we got more of Woody Harrelson though. His character was really interesting IMO and while their is a pretty surprising and shocking twist involved with his character I would have liked it more if we actually got to see how the rest of the story would've played out with him in it.

B+

I thought this was pretty excellent, and it toed the line well that Mildred is capable of villainy as much as Dixon is capable of doing something decent. A lot of complexity and sadness underneath the characters and McDonagh directs some of the most memorable scenes of the year like the gunshot scene, throwing the guy out the window, police station fire, etc. I'm also glad that McDormand's best moments were relatively toned down and internal, when in someone else's hands it could've been one crying/screaming Oscar clip after another

Brilliant and the best movie of the year for me. All performances are top notch and story has some really great twists. Rockwell is outright brilliant among the cast even though McDormand is equally brilliant (and as David mentioned this is a tailor-made role for her). Harrelson was great and his character was the most interesting, I would have loved to explore more of the Sheriff but I guess that's the charm of this character.

8/10

This is an ace film. McDormand gives the best female lead performance I've seen so far from last year, and Rockwell was fantastic too. Caleb Landry Jones stood out as well, because 2017 was a pretty good year around for him actually. Woody deserves a mention too and it just has an undeniable impressive cast. This is the kind of film where I just can't pinpoint any flaws, yet I didn't get really invested it. Or maybe it's the role of that "bad guy" that wasn't fitted well into the story for me, but it worked in the Rockwell redeeming himself angle. It's darkly comical script is great anyway and together with its score and directing makes it into one of the higher quality products from last year.

A-

There's a lot about this movie that's great. The powerhouse performances of course. I enjoyed its macabre sense of humor. And the ridiculous plot progression kept me engrossed throughout. I particularly liked the device of three different suicide letters written by Willoughby, and how they were used to advance the story and different character arcs.

However there's a sense I can't shake of: that's it? Like, it's entertaining, it's novel, it's well directed and acted.... but it doesn't amount to more than the sum of its parts. And the fact that it acknowledges its own nihilistic absurdity kind of detracts from its thematic heft. For a movie seemingly about *stuff* it struck me just as a pretty entertaining *movie*, and one not in a genre I typically enjoy that much.

I think I was affected by the knowledge that the movie is a contender for Best Picture, which left me thinking at the end.... really?

But yeah, it's good. I might watch it once again sometime in my life.

B+

oh, the one flashback scene we get with the daughter storming out of the house and Mom screaming, "I hope you get raped too!" .......... Really? It's just a little too ridiculous, but not ridiculous enough to be funny because that part at least is played pretty straight. Not a fan of that screenwriting choice.

I saw this again, this time at the cinema. Still the best film of the year! A+

And my wife also loved it.

This movie is so spoofable. I can only imagine South Park, Family Guy etc. having someone do the billboards thing. Anyway, really good story, good performances and beautifully shot. It would be a great movie if they shaved like 20 minutes off the runtime. It feels like she does the billboards thing and they just talk about that for 40 minutes before anything else happens.

B+