Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has been an awards season darling, racking up six Golden Globe nominations among many other accolades. Follow the backstory of the film and you’ll find a fascinating character study into a world with themes hardly explored on the big screen anymore but are plastered all over the small screen in our homes every night.Why “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is so controversial
![three billboards outside ebbing missouri racist three billboards outside ebbing missouri racist](https://cdn1.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/images/methode/2019/02/01/4a4a7380-252b-11e9-9177-bd3ae24bba4f_image_hires_102520.jpg)
As a director he falls short, but as a writer he certainly excels.
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI RACIST MOVIE
And Sam Rockwell as Dixon, another racist cop who changes by end of the movie does not add any nuance to a type of character that has been explored a million times before (go watch Monster’s Ball, now).Īt first glance one would think an Englishman such as Martin McDonagh wouldn’t have much insight into such a multi-layered story as Three Billboards, no he has a lot to say and he says it well, he just doesn’t SHOW it well. Willoughby is every cop I have ever seen in any movie. All the hallmarks of what McDonagh does best….but it’s all in the wrong film! Frances McDormand as Mildred Hayes becomes a caricature of Rose the Riveter. The tone of the film is all over the place and what starts out as a crime drama set in the racist south slowly transmutes into a dark comedy with some midget jokes sprinkled in. McDonagh’s biggest downfall as a writer/director isn’t his part as writer, but it’s as director. Now, as much as I wanted to like this film, (since I read the script first and loved it) the inconsistent language of visual storytelling is where it all falls apart for me. And McDonagh unabashedly expounds upon these themes without pontificating what the audience should or shouldn’t believe instead he quietly infiltrates their consciousness through the voices of compelling characters he’s carefully crafted for the screen. Themes surrounding racism, censorship, and police brutality are all in this film. But Willoughby honors Mildred’s pain and allows her to keep the billboards up, revealing the kind of cop he is. Willoughby’s right hand man, Officer Dixon takes a tougher approach, threatening Mildred and the people in her life.
![three billboards outside ebbing missouri racist three billboards outside ebbing missouri racist](https://thejollysociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/three-billboards.jpg)
Public scorn soon follows Mildred Hayes as the townspeople demand that she take down the billboards dishonoring the town’s most honorable citizen, a brash talking, tells you like it is Chief Willoughby played by Woody Harrelson. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri starts with a very simple premise – Mildred Hayes puts up three billboards out on a desolate highway road advertising Police Chief Willoughby’s lack of action in finding the person who killed and raped her daughter, Angela Hayes. At first this intrigued me, but what interested me more was the title – the long laborious title from a writer/director who’s previous work without fail always entertained me, yet this film was a far veer to the left from the course of his last films. I first read about this film in articles that stated there was a backlash against writer/director Martin McDonagh for his seemingly redeemable ending of the racist character, Dixon. However everything that follows is less compelling, less climactic, and less directional.
![three billboards outside ebbing missouri racist three billboards outside ebbing missouri racist](https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/eb8/409/f8c86115c3bc09dcd5650f751a8f8ad352-27-three-billboards-review.1x.rsocial.w1200.jpg)
This is exactly what Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri does best – create an intriguing backstory. Every good story has a good backstory – a world, time, or event that existed before the audience is introduced to the present story at hand.