Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Martin McDonagh’s best movie to date, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri follows Frances McDormand’s grieving Mildred as she erects the title objects to goad the town’s sheriff (Woody Harrelson’s Willoughby) into solving her daughter’s murder – with the narrative also weaving in such periphery characters as Sam Rockwell’s dimwitted Dixon and Lucas Hedges’ pragmatic Robbie. It’s ultimately clear that Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri grows more and more compelling as it progresses, as writer/director McDonagh’s predictably off-kilter approach initially prevents the viewer from embracing the characters and their respective exploits (ie McDonagh’s on-the-nose dialogue can be just a little too clever for its own good). There’s little doubt, however, that the movie, even during its less successful moments, benefits from the thoroughly (and uniformly) superlative work of its various actors – McDormand and Rockwell are especially magnetic here – and there does reach a point at which Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri becomes far more engrossing and captivating than one might’ve anticipated. The shift from watchable to electrifying comes with a mesmerizing stretch involving Harrelson’s tragic figure, as the movie, past that point, is riddled with similarly spellbinding interludes that ultimately confirm its place as a seriously impressive and wrenching piece of work.

***1/2 out of ****