In all honesty, there hasn’t been a filmmaker that sky-rocketed into my pantheon of personal icons quite as fast as Martin McDonagh. I fell in love with his films based only on In Bruges, one of the most deliciously twisted dark comedies ever made, and I followed that film up (albeit not in chronological order of when they were made) with the short film that made McDonagh an established filmmaker (and an Academy Award-winner), Six Shooter. In my anticipation for his next film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, I decided to fill in one of my most glaring blind-spots in McDonagh’s career as a filmmaker, the wonderful black comedy crime thriller that was Seven Psychopaths. While it didn’t reach the heights of In Bruges, and does have some flaws the detract from its central innovations of form and content. Yet, beyond all of that, it is still a great film, and proof that McDonagh’s career is pretty solid.

Now, to be fair, when I talk about McDonagh’s “career”, I’m referring to his work as a film director, of which he is somewhat of a newcomer to an extent, having made (to date) only three feature-length films. Yet, he is already (and deservingly so) well-established as a playwright, and perhaps the most important living playwright working in the English language. Above everything else, McDonagh is someone who knows how to write characters, and his background in acidic, darkly comical theatre is shown in his films, as they are inherently theatrical, with outlandish characters and that one Holy Grail of filmmaking that is scarily rare to find in films of this ilk: a great screenplay. Seven Psychopaths dazzles with the exact kind of sparkling dialogue that made In Bruges such a breakout film. Also, it McDonagh isn’t a filmmaker afraid to pull any punches regarding violence, but he also tastefully uses this newfound cinematic freedom to express these stories with the restraint they deserve (but also to be excessively violent, but only to a point where it is still artistically-sound…but still awesomely gruesome, but very dignified. Need I say more?).

Marty Faranan (Colin Farrell) is an Irish screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He has an alcohol problem, which is consistently noted by his best friend, the very suitably-named Billy Bickle (Sam Rockwell). Billy is a small-time con man, working with elderly Christian dandy Hans Kieslowski (Christopher Walken) in what I consider to be both the most absurd yet simultaneously brilliant scheme in history – they steal dogs, and then return them to their heartbroken owners and claim the reward. However, it becomes clear that Billy wants to help his friend Marty overcome his alcoholism and actually get his screenplay written, which is entitled…Seven Psychopaths (the semi-autobiographical parallels in this film are quite fascinating, from the main character having a name very similar to the filmmaker himself, as well as this story of the struggling writer trying to make something profound about psychopaths. But it isn’t a major driving point of the film, rather a delightful running gag). Billy places an advertisement in the newspaper, whereby he claims that Marty is looking for psychopaths to contact the duo, in the hopes that their stories will help inspire Marty to write something meaningful. However, when they take a wrong-turn by kidnapping Bonny, the beloved dog owned by Charlie Costello (Woody Harrelson), things get very intense and the violence escalates in unprecedented rapidity, and our protagonists are thrown into a world of violence, murder and a ruthless gangster who adores his Shih Tzu dog.

There’s nothing quite like an actor proving themselves after decades of less-than-ideal performances in mediocre films. Colin Farrell had a few good performances in his career, but he wasn’t much more than just the intense, good-looking but conflicted hero in action films. However, In Bruges came along and gave him the showcase for his talents, and it set him off into a career renaissance that was not void of failures, but steadily growing in prestige films and incredible performances from an actor who showed an innate ability to play far more complex characters than his prior career choices would suggest. He has become somewhat of an auteur-favorite, with films like The Beguiled, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer being notable feathers in his proverbial cap. However, it seems to be McDonagh who brought out the true brilliance in Farrell, showing off his despicably wonderful comedic talents. His performance as Marty is not as entertaining or profound as that of Ray in In Bruges, but it was still fantastic. While much of this performance as Farrell reacting to the zany antics of the eccentric characters around him, he still managed to have some great moments. Yet, despite being the lead in this film (and a very good one at that), he was still overpowered by other performances – but that’s a good thing because Seven Psychopaths has an amazing cast, all of whom give tremendous performances.

Sam Rockwell is one of the greatest living actors, and that isn’t just my opinion: it is approaching an inalienable truth. In under two decades, Rockwell has established himself as a dedicated character actor, capable of stealing the show in supporting roles, as well as leading a film with necessary charisma and talent, making him one of the few actors who is astonishing regardless of the kind of role. He is almost chameleonic in his acting style, able to manipulate his own talents to portray any kind of character, from the most heroic protagonists to the most endearing goofball sidekicks to the most sinister villains. There is very little doubt that Rockwell is a fantastic actor – and Seven Psychopaths is just further proof of that. He takes over this film with his hilarious and heartfelt portrayal of Billy, a man who wants to help his friend write his screenplay and see him fix his rapidly-declining life, all the while ignoring the fact that he himself is a brutally sadistic and immoral psychopath, intent on killing people in the most lavish, glorious and cinematic ways possible. His descent into madness is truly a masterclass of acting, and Rockwell had somehow managed to converge Shakespearean tragedy with Marx Brothers-esque slapstick comedy. Billy Bickle is not just a foul-mouthed but adorable idiot, nor is he a homicidal manic…he’s both, often at the exact same time. There are few actors who can be as endearing (and I don’t mean charmingly sinister, but utterly lovable) while killing people as Rockwell. By the end of this film, you aren’t entirely sure if Billy was a hero or a villain, but you do go away with one major belief: Rockwell was extraordinary.

McDonagh has always managed to attract some high-profile stars to his films, and it just seemed natural that two of the finest actors of their generation would find their way into McDonagh’s twisted universe – Christopher Walken (who seemingly doesn’t ever turn down a film) is as good as ever (but not groundbreaking) as Hans, and Woody Harrelson is as hilarious and malicious as you’d expect a gangster played by Woody Harrelson to be. Neither actor gives career-defining, revolutionary performances, and remain pretty much within the well-made confines as their respective careers have made for them…but there is absolutely no reason why this is a bad thing. McDonagh uses his actors so well and manages to bring out their best qualities. I consider his works – both his career in theatre and his forays into cinema – as being primarily about constructing stories as intricate games of chess, where each actor plays off the other in order to progress the story. It isn’t enough that McDonagh develops his characters wonderfully through their own personal characterization, but also through the characterization of other characters. The chemistry of the cast is wonderful, and each actor brings so much to his or her performances. Seven Psychopaths is also worth noting for smaller performances from the likes of Tom Waits (who I was hoping would have a slightly more substantial part), Michael Stuhlbarg and the always wonderful Željko Ivanek.

Perhaps what I liked the most about Seven Psychopaths was how subversive it was. It was one of those rare films that pay homage to a genre while being good enough to stand alongside the very films that it is paying homage to, while still gently parodying tropes and cliches that exist in those kinds of films. Psychopaths are not a rare entity in crime films, with the majority of them having some form of psychotic lunatic or reserved maniac in the villain position. McDonagh makes fun of this by having the cast almost entirely consists of utterly deplorable, morally-ambiguous and deeply flawed characters who are all psychopaths in their own way – and while one would initially think (based on the promotion for this film), that this is some Avengers­­-style film whereby different psychopaths team up to wreak havoc, it is far from being anything close to that, and is rather a film about several things, least of all alliances and the nature of friendship in adversity. The result is a deeply bizarre but utterly entertaining postmodern dark comedy that questions morality and humanity in such a bitterly dark and violent way, it is impossible to not be entertained.

Seven Psychopaths is a great film. The cast is splendid, particularly in the performances from Colin Farrell and Sam Rockwell. Martin McDonagh is such a wonderfully talented writer and director, and he truly cares about his characters. Seven Psychopaths is a hilarious and entertaining and utterly thrilling crime thriller that is gloriously violent (but classy, I must emphasize that point) and just wonderful from beginning to end. A fantastic film from the mind of a very talented genius who is amongst our greatest living writers. I really do think Martin McDonagh is an artistic treasure, and I can’t wait to see where his career goes (and hopefully Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is as wonderful as it appears to be, but I don’t doubt it is fantastic). Seven Psychopaths isn’t for everyone, but for those that do enjoy this kind of film, it is undeniably brilliant.