Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Marty Faranan	Colin Farrell
Hans Kieslowski	Christopher Walken
Billy Bickle	Sam Rockwell	½
Charlie Costello	Woody Harrelson
Zachariah Rigby	Tom Waits	½
Kaya	Abbie Cornish
Angela	Olga Kurylenko
Paulo	Zeljko Ivanek
Myra	Linda Bright Clay
Vietnamese priest	Long Nguyen
Man in Hat	Harry Dean Stanton
Dennis	Kevin Corrigan
Sharice	Gabourey Sidibe
Larry	Michael Pitt

Review

Martin McDonagh, that talented, Irish filmmaker behind the ingenious In Bruges, this time takes his well of ideas and characters across the Atlantic to shoot this black crime-comedy entitled Seven Psychopaths. The story is about an Irish aspiring screenwriter (Colin Farrell) determined to write a script called, yes exactly, "Seven Psychopaths". Along with his spirited (to say the least) friend Billy (Sam Rockwell), he starts roaming about looking for inspiration in the form of potential psychopaths. And along the way, he encounters probably more than he was bargaining for, including Billy's partner in dog-crime, Hans (Chris Walken), and a ruthless mobster (Woody Harrelson).

Although McDonagh again shows off his playfulness, which was one of the key qualities of In Bruges, it's a far more goofy and less delicate playfulness this time around. Seven Psychopaths takes on a semi-meta level which never quite hits the mark, and McDonagh spices his already buffoonic film with lots of hit-or-miss anecdotes and meandering conversations between his always very talkative characters. Contrary to In Bruges, there is no suspense in Seven Psychopaths, mainly because it doesn't matter, neither to us or McDonagh himself, how his protagonists fare. Their lives are simply rollercoaster rides for us to witness. Unfortunately, their antics aren't as original as McDonagh would want us believe; these self-obsessed mobsters, psychos and bullies have been depicted too many times on film already - and McDonagh's half-baked script of ideas which he bounces off us, seemingly unfiltered, isn't enough to make them more than slightly amusing. Only the Christopher Walken character stands out, as a man who has come to reject the idea of revenge.