Title: Seven Psychopaths
Starring: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, Christopher Walken
Synopsis: An alcoholic writer (Colin Farrell) working on a screenplay about seven psychopaths becomes involved with some psychopaths himself after his eccentric dog-napping friends (Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken) make the mistake of stealing the beloved shih tzu of a ruthless gangster (Woody Harrelson).
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsHR77oQKEY]
Offering the same dark humour as director Martin McDonagh’s previous film In Bruges, as well as being clearly influenced by the works of Quentin Tarantino, Seven Psychopaths takes things almost to a Community level with its self-awareness – it’s a movie which knows fine well that it’s a movie. Not only does it feature a brilliantly quirky cast with funny and memorable performances (particularly from Rockwell and Harrelson), but the positively genius script manages to inject the perfect mix of hilarious dialogue and genuinely poignant moments as it plays around with various crime movie cliches. While some may find the meta jokes to be too self-indulgent at times and the violence borderline ridiculous, it does call into question some fairly good points about how women and people of colour are treated in cinema. Plus, Tom Waits is there with a bunny – what’s not to like?
Watch if You Liked: In Bruges, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Guard
Rating: 9/10: A wildly enjoyable and criminally underrated black comedy.
Words by Samantha King