All Kinds of Crazy

Seven Psychopaths

You ever have a friend that you know something is wrong with? I have several that I believe are certifiable. Sometimes I wish that I could capture them on camera, because I am sure that their level of crazy would garner me a lot of money. Though, that is all a pipedream because Hollywood has been dishing out the crazies for years with films like American Psycho, Matchstick Men, and Horrible Bosses. Excluding American Psycho, the other two films have one thing in common; they are dark comedies. In 2012, CBS Films released their own dark comedy oddly named Seven Psychopaths.

Marty Faranan (Colin Farrell True Detective) just wants to write his next big screenplay. An idea that Marty has come up with is about seven psychotic killers, but he doesn’t want the film to be overly violent. Marty’s friend Billy Bickle (Sam Rockwell Choke) is a struggling actor that has turned to dognapping to make money. Billy’s partner in crime is Hans (Christopher Walken Jersey Boys) who wants nothing more than to do right by his dying wife. It is only when Billy decides to dognap the Shih Tzu of a very hot-headed mob boss, Charlie Costello (Woody Harrelson Now You See Me); does things really get bad for Marty. Marty, Billy, and Hans must not figure out a way to finish Marty’s screenplay while staying alive.

This was a magnificent dark-comedy full of great performances and gruesome violence. On the level with a Tarantino movie, Seven Psychopaths takes the most absurd concept and flip it on itself and creates an intriguing and fun movie. After I was done watching this film, I just felt like I was taken for a great ride into the minds of some very weird people.

The cast in this film was fantastic, plain and simple. Farrell, known more for his serious roles, shows off his comedy chops by giving Marty an almost twitchy personality, who is supposed to be the normal person of the group. Walken is another great member of this cast. Walken’s Hans has a laissez faire attitude to things that creates some great interaction with him and the other characters. The stand out of the film for me, however, was Sam Rockwell. Always a great actor, Rockwell is able to take his crazy to a different, more subtle, area. Rockwell’s Billy is very functioning ‘psychopath’ in the way that he feels justified in his actions and has a clear vision of what his right and wrong is.

Writer/director Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) is the mastermind behind Seven Psychopaths. Allowing each character to showcase their ‘crazy’, McDonagh spends just enough time with each character that the film doesn’t seem to cluttered with characters or useless characters for that matter. I know this is going to sound weird, but McDonagh does a great job of using a lot of awkward humor in this film to make it funnier as well. It is just these weird interactions throughout the film that go in tone with the crazy tone that McDonagh has created for this movie.

One of the best dark-comedies that I have ever seen, Seven Psychopaths is worth a view for anyone that enjoys Quentin Tarantino movies or crime comedies in general. If you don’t view it based on the synopsis, watch this film for its cast and the great chemistry they all have on screen. Trust me it will be worth it.

The Verdict: Worth Your Time.