This Wednesday, 3 Billboards finally arrives in theaters with its four-star cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Peter Dinklage, Caleb Landry Jones… Martin McDonagh's superb film (Good Kisses from Bruges, The 7 Psychopaths) was awarded 4 Golden Globes (Best Film, Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Sam Rockwell). 3 Billboards – The Panels of Vengeance is an uncompromising film, which has guts and things to tell.
Stunning characters for a perfect cast
The great strength of 3 Billboards is its characters. Martin McDonagh writes a stable of remarkable characters, whose stakes are exciting, with strong empathy thanks to their striking realism. The filmmaker did not write caricatured figures. He depicted the daily lives of very human characters, very realistic, neither all white nor all black. Manichaeism is forbidden and the protagonists are only fascinating. There are no good guys or bad guys in this story. Simply normal people, with disproportionate flaws, humanistic qualities, who try to survive in a society that is approaching the jungle. They do their best, first for themselves, and then, if they can, for their society. Souls in perdition who seek their place despite omnipresent violence.
Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), Police Chief Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) and Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell) form a grandiose trio. The balance of power and the issues surrounding them are fascinating. Hayes seeks revenge for his daughter and is desperate to prevent dust from sweeping under the rug over the murder of his child. Willoughby is a tired chief of police, a good man but overwhelmed by events, offered to the world by Hayes in search of revenge. Finally, Dixon is the most ambiguous, an incompetent young policeman, who takes advantage of his situation but will evolve and become better after coming close to death.
It is the actors who refine these characters, give them an identity with precise performances. The performers manage to touch all the ambiguity of their roles, offering games that are constantly evolving. Frances McDormand is memorable as this strong mother and had not found a role in this measure since Fargo of the Coen brothers. Sam Rockwell did not steal his Golden Globe either, as he oscillates between a muscular charisma and an empathetic fragility. All of Martin McDonagh's characters are ambiguous, exciting, victims of society and above all in agony. It is this permanent feeling that gives the film all its identity, all its rage, resentment and lack of concession.
An uncompromising film that mixes genres
In addition to his remarkable technical precision: superb photography, flawless artistic direction, touching soundtrack, it is the risks taken by Martin McDonagh that forge the soul of 3 Billboards. The director never does half measures. He goes to the end of his project and his vision, with a very radical final editing. The filmmaker took enough time to exploit his protagonists and conclude the stakes of the story. The dialogues are incisive, perfectly rhythmic and of great intelligence, thanks to a revolutionary and realistic vogue in the tradition of Captain Fantastic or The Glass Castle. Frances McDormand's character's vision of society is very fatalistic, allowing the actress to perfect a harshness representative of the film. The twists are captivating, unexpected and keep the viewer in suspense without an ounce of length until its ironic and light finale, as if the characters had gotten rid of, at least for a while, their demons.
3 Billboards does not hesitate to mix genres. Between this warm environment of Missouri that sometimes recalls a western atmosphere, this police plot worthy of the great thrillers and the social issues of its characters, the film does not forget to be funny, once again thanks to its characters. Between a few well-felt lines and strong characters, the story is entitled to its comic pauses. 3 Billboards is a funny, ironic, incisive film about the police, the functioning of our society and the strong destiny of colorful characters. A strength augmented by actors who never overplay, but achieve screaming performances of truth thanks to their gestures, their looks and their silences.
Finally, the success of 3 Billboards – The Panels of Vengeance lies in a precise balance between the expected and the unexpected, between violence and sensitivity, between lightness and brutality. Martin McDonagh has produced a totally accomplished work, which has not stolen its awards.
