The Banshees of Inisherin

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh

Stars: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan, Pat Shortt, Jon Kenny, Bríd Ní Neachtain, Gary Lydon, Aaron Monaghan, and Sheila Flitton

I have been waiting on bated breath to watch McDonagh's latest movie. It has been getting Colin Farrell a lot of Best Actor awards from various film critics societies. I can see why. This movie is mature dark comedy from McDonagh.

During the Irish Civil War in 1923, a simple man, Pádraic Súilleabháin (Farrell) thinks its a typical day in Inisherin when he wants to have a pint with his buddy, Colm Doherty (Gleeson). Things change when Colm doesn't want to be in the presence of Pádraic anymore. Pádraic doesn't understand why the sudden animosity. He goes out of his way to find some reconciliation that leads to disastrous results.

Seeing all of McDonagh's movies, I have to say that this is the most subdued film for him. It's refreshing to see that he is not going for the shocking amounts of violence. There is some here, but it's visceral. It's that 'holy shit' moment when things get real. There are consequences to people's actions. Setting a movie in the early 20th century with no guns, no political incorrect language in it. It's very restrained. I appreciate the film more that McDonagh chose to tell this story.

Ireland is beautiful to behold. The cinematography by Ben Davis capture the lush rolling fields and vast landscapes.

I didn't know what to make of this film. It was getting a lot of praise and I was afraid that the movie wasn't going to live up to those expectations. I'm glad it did. The performances were stellar across the board with Farrell and Gleeson. There is Kerry Condon as Pádraic's sister, Siobhan. She was a breath for fresh air. She was the audience trying to get the craziness of this story together. Barry Keoghan's performance as Dominic Kearney had subtlety and nuance. You would think that he was playing a dimwitted guy, but he had layers to him.

This was an enjoyable experience. I have a nitpick with the movie. There was a part with the bartender and a patron of that bar that got on my nerves. If you have seen the movie, then you know what I talking about. I hate it when a character becomes an echo.

Rating: 9/10

Seven Psychopaths

Seven Psychopaths (2012)

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh

Stars: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, Tom Waits, Zeljko Ivanek, Kevin Corrigan, Abbie Cornish and Olga Kurylenko

I cannot say enough that I loved Martin McDonagh's feature film debut, In Bruges. It was on my top ten list of 2008. It was eagerly anticipating his follow up. The trailer gave an impression that the movie was going to be a slapstick gangster comedy. It's not like that at all. I don't know if I like it or not.

Life imitating art of sorts. Colin Farrell plays a struggling screenwriter named Marty who having writer's block. What screenwriter doesn't? The only thing that he has is the title, 'Seven Psychopaths'. He tries to pull anything to make the creative juices flowing.

His best friend, Billy (Rockwell) relays tales that he has heard over the years about possible inspirations for characters in his screenplay. You should know that Billy is a "professional" dognapper/actor that is employed by the zen boss, Hans (Walen) to collect the reward for their victims. Things get complicated when Billy takes the cherished shih tzu of crime boss, Charlie Costello (Harrelson). Marty and company have to deal with a notorious coming after them and Billy trying to cast other psychopaths in a nonexistent movie.

My expectations were that it was going to be an over the top gangster comedy. Sneaky, sneaky trailer. The movie hearkens to themes of In Bruges about life and death, questioning of religion, the existence of God or heaven and hell. I think that message was better conveyed in this movie than In Bruges.

I would say that the movie is self aware that it is one of those typical gangster movies with over the top violence and the nonexistent presence of the women. Very meta.

The beginning of the movie did not start off on a good feet, because you have people in the movie that were killed off in two seconds flat that had me scratching my head. It chaotic the beginning, but when Tom Waits came in as Zachariah Rigby I was strapped in. The male cast was great in their roles. Colin Farrell was better in In Bruges in my opinion. Walken was deep and hilarious. Harrelson was great as usual. Rockwell is playing a dicey character that could be polarizing for some people.

My Rating