Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
— This is my kind of movie. Feisty Frances McDormand appears to be righteously pitted against a beloved sheriff and his hair-triggered deputy who haven’t focused on her daughter’s rape, murder, and immolation. It doesn’t take long until we’ve been introduced to the main characters, all of whom have their various strengths and flaws. McDormand is perfect in her part, but Harrelson and Rockwell hold their own very well too. It’s a clever story of outpouring emotions and emotions held in check, touching on lots of issues that look so black and white in today's social media—police brutality, racial profiling, righteous revenge, spouse abuse, religion, homophobia, grief and anger. The list goes on and on as the story evolves and it’s the evolution that makes for the fun in this dark comedy or “dramedy.” In the end there are no heroes, and there’s a reminder of the infinite gradations between black and white, but mostly there’s a feeling that the path to redemption is circuitous but open to all. Others have compared the film to a Flannery O’Connor story and it’s hard to watch it and not think the same thing. This is definitely one of my favorites of the year.
