Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Movie Review

Let me start by saying Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is going to win a bunch of awards. It is the exact type of film Hollywood elites flock to. I wasn't that impressed. I enjoyed the film, but felt it was unfair and heavy handed in its use of stereotypes. Had it found better balance, I may have found the redemptive qualities of the film more poignant. Instead, I came away from the film feeling mildly entertained and equally perturbed.

Mildred (Frances McDormand) lost her daughter in a brutal attack. She is carrying a bit of remorse for her daughter's death, but chooses to lash out at the Police Chief (Woody Harrelson) for not solving the crime within a year. The crime is a tough one. Her daughter was raped and burned alive. DNA was recovered, but there were no matches. No witnesses. No substantive evidence. Mildred expresses her anger by renting three billboards that graphically describe her daughter's death while suggesting the police have failed to do their job. The billboards create a lot of angst in the small rural community. While the populous of Ebbing stand with Mildred on the loss of her daughter, they are against the billboards. Particularly since the Chief is well liked...and dying of pancreatic cancer. Throw in a racist cop (Dixon, played by Sam Rockwell), an abusive ex-husband (John Hawkes) and a host of other sundry characters, and you have a dark drama with a dash of humor thrown in.

The story was interesting enough to me. I though there was decent character development for most of the characters. But the darker elements were heavy handed. I get tired of the same old dirty cop mantra. When you draw a character as too stupid to pass the police academy and throw in numerous allegations of abuse, and no consequences...it just doesn't ring true. A guy like Dixon would have long lost his job had he found one to begin with. I get that the Chief has some affinity for Dixon, but the stereotype was heavy handed. It made the character wholly unbelievable. Especially when a letter from the Chief causes him to become likable overnight. While the story was engaging and had some interesting twists, the stereotypes really damaged the credibility.

Another major flaw in the story was a contrived plot line involving a potential suspect. I am usually willing to sacrifice some credibility for a good story. But the chain of events that lead to the suspect, the elements that match and end up being a dead end, and the coincidence of a disclosure that leads to this story line were a bit too much. It was a second leap in credibility that I rejected. It ends with an unlikely pairing that again challenged the realm of the real world.

I'm not quite off my soapbox yet. Martin Mcdonaugh, who wrote and directed, has done some good work. He is kind of known for this kind of film, having done Seven Psychopaths, In Bruges and Six Shooter. Credibility is not a major sticking point for him. Another thing that bothered me about this film was what I will call the "Bill Ayers" affect. The elevation of a criminal for political or social reasons. Mildred committed a horrific aggravated assault and the audience I was with applauded. I was astonished. She also assaulted two children, committed an aggravated arson and was generally not a good person. The fact that this film molded her into a heroine was lost on me.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a 115 minute film from Blueprint Pictures. The film earned an R rating primarily for the vulgar language, which include liberal use of the "C" word as well as racial slurs. The film also had quite a bit of violence, some of it a bit graphic. There are also sexual references, a suicide and talk of a brutal homicide. It is not a film for mixed audiences.

I am going a different direction with my recommendation for this film. I am going to give it an objective score of 7/10. It had some redeeming qualities. That score would normally be a recommendation from me, possibly with a disclaimer that you can wait for it streaming. I am going to give it a non-recommendation. I am tired of the stereotypical incessant cop bashing from the media and Hollywood. It needs to stop. This film stereotypes police in ways that no other group could be stereotyped without being held accountable. It is nonsense. It irritates me enough that I walked out of the theater a bit pissed off about it. If you are a liberal, you will probably embrace this film and clap for the criminal heroine. If you have common sense, you will question this film on more points than just the cop bashing.