This movie irks me. 3 Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri is not, by any means, a bad movie. Not in a conventional sense anyway. In fact, from a technical standpoint it’s fantastic. It’s well shot, well acted, well directed. Martin Mcdonagh is responsible for creating the masterpiece that is In Bruges, a flick that is a permanent fixture in my top 5 films of all time. So what’s the issue? Well, read on stalwart friend.
3 Billboard’s plot centers around Mildred(Frances McDormand). A year after the brutal death and rape of her daughter Mildred has three billboards put up asking why the chief of police(played by Woody Harrleson) has yet to solve the case. From their we get a tale about anger and hurt, and about when, if ever, should one let go of that anger.
I still haven’t let go of my anger from Spotlight winning best picture.
And that’s all fine and good, and not my issue with the film. My issue with the film is with how it handles the topic of racism. Or, rather, how it doesn’t.
Part of Mildred’s ire with the Ebbing police is their habit of harassing or, in the case of Sam Rockwell’s Dixon, assaulting, black people. It’s mentioned in passing, never shown and it’s left to Mildred to be a vocal source of the outrage and not any of the black characters who, collectively barely have 15 minutes of screen time between the four of them. Dixon gets in more trouble for assaulting a white man in the film than the alleged years of abuse he doled out to black people and, ultimately, this part of his character goes unaddressed. It feels like window dressing, a shorthand way of showing you the police department is inept without actually following through. The film works just as well if Dixon is just an angry, hateful, bitter drunk. If you’re not going to make a real commentary on race, or police racism then don’t lob that ball into the air, because not resolving that thread makes the entire movie feel flat.
That aside, I still think the film is good, in the sense that it is well acted. McDonagh’s writing style really lends to strong characters, and the characters in here are well done. There’s a sharp, bitter humor throughout and it juxtaposes well with the pain as the characters deal with the events of the film. McDormand is brilliant in her role; a broken down, vengeful woman forced to play the only card she has. She is immensely empathetic, brutally funny and the glue holding this all together. I just wish she had a stronger narrative.
3 Billboards is why I don’t like giving number ratings. It is a good movie, from the stance that it is well made. But the way the theme falls flat, that hangs over this film like a guillotine. I ended up leaving feeling very unsatisfied, like I had watch something come so close to greatness only to find out I’d been watching Icarus the entire time, and now it’s all come crashing down. I’m not mad 3 Billboards. I’m just disappointed.
The World of Movies and Media Seen Through the Lens of a Token Black Guy. 