Seven Psychopaths

            The new Martin McDonagh movie, “Seven Psychopaths,” is a violent comedy. Some of the stars include Colin Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken. It resembles Quentin Tarantino’s films. This movie was what I expected it would be considering the people involved. Rotten Tomatoes currently has the movie at 84% fresh, meaning good reviews. “Seven Psychopaths” isn’t the movie for everyone, but I enjoyed it.

            Marty (Ferrell) is writing a movie about seven psychopaths. He takes some ideas from his strange friends Billy (Rockwell) and Hans (Walken), who kidnap dogs and return them for the rewards. Billy takes a gangster’s Shih Tzu. The gangster, Charlie (Harrelson), goes on a violent search to get his darling dog back.

            McDonagh came up with a very creative plot. The characters actually say what’s going to happen in the end of the movie ahead of time while discussing a possible ending for Marty’s movie. His seven psychopaths commit terrible, violent crimes, but they are deeply sensitive in a way. He makes you care for all of them, but yet still be upset about the violence. It’s amazing how he can give the characters two different personality traits that are complete opposites, but make them work together. This strange combination really helps the comedy.

            One of the main reasons this movie works well is the comedy. There are several laugh-out-loud moments as well as funny or surprising situations the characters get involved in. The comedy is used extensively throughout the movie, which is a good reminder not to take the movie too seriously. If you do take it seriously, you won’t experience the movie the way it was meant to be experienced. Humor also helps take your mind off how violent the characters truly are.

            Another thing that helps the violence shown is the exaggeration used. The violent acts are blown way out of proportion, some of them literally. The level of violence really helps drive the fact that the people are criminals and really are psychopaths. The movie wouldn’t have such a big impact without so much bloodshed.

            The actors played their characters very well. They were fun, sentimental, awful and likable. All of the interesting characters were brought to life. I became very invested in them and how everything was going to end. The actors really understood the tone and the purpose of the movie.

            I knew what I was getting into with this movie because I had seen McDonagh’s “In Bruges,” which Ferrell was also in. I’ve seen Ferrell in “Minority Report” as well. I’ve seen Harrelson in “The Hunger Games,” “Zombieland” and “Seven Pounds.” I’ve seen Rockwell in “Iron Man 2,” “Moon,” “Frost/Nixon,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” “Matchstick Men” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Other movies I’ve seen Walken in are “Balls of Fury,” “Hairspray,” “Wedding Crashers,” “Kangaroo Jack,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “Poolhall Junkies,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Annie Hall.” With this cast, how could it not be good?