Seven Psychopaths
is not the easiest film to describe. It follows a struggling screenwriter,
played by Colin Farrell, as he attempts to navigate the Los Angeles criminal underworld
where he's dragged to by his unusual friends (Christopher Walken and Sam
Rockwell) after they kidnap a gangster's beloved Shih Tzu. Yes, the plot is
really as strange as it sounds. In the midst of that overarching story is the
subplot of Farrell's character, Martin, laboring over a screenplay about seven
psychopaths. It's definitely a film within a film.
I always appreciate movies that don't leave any loose ends.
Sure, certain aspects of Seven
Psychopaths utilize what I classify as "movie logic", but it's still a fun
film. The comedy is certainly dark and twisted, and some of the scenes were
very bloody, which is a bit troubling on some levels from a "why do I find this
so funny?" standpoint. But the acting was solid from start to finish. The
dialogue is well crafted, and the story has layers. Much of the metanarrative
actually manages to poke fun at itself, which always seems to entertain me.
As much as I greatly enjoyed the dialogue and the
performances, Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken in particular, the pacing of Seven Psychopaths is very off. The beginning seemed to fly by, but then
I thought the film would never end. And when it did, it actually didn't. I thought the credits
had started, but it was just a tease. A very amusing tease, but still.
Seven Psychopaths
is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not everyone will "get it". It's a film that you can either take at
face value or delve into deeper to glean more from the subtext.
