With the Oscar nominations being announced recently, I wanted to see Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri which has 7 nominations. The awards include Best Picture, Leading Actress (Frances McDormand), Supporting Actors (for both Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell), Best Screenplay (written and directed by Martin McDonagh), Original Score, and Editing. This drama with a dark sense of humour is about a mother (McDormand) who holds the local police department accountable for no arrests in the investigation into the rape and murder of her daughter. Nearly all the characters involved are fighting through some personal challenge of their own, in addition to the unsolved homicide, what a talented cast. McDormand leads the way with a mother that is blunt, honest, and not afraid to get in anyone’s face to make a point. Her interactions with others in the film perfectly capture how she is feeling, what she thinks about them, and makes the point that she wants to. Also enjoyable to watch was Harrelson and Rockwell as two police officers in the small town, they too were given plenty of screen time to make cops that you both can feel sympathy for as well as wish they were better able to solve the crime at the heart of the film. While I missed one of the characters in the second half of the film, the sequence was moving, and felt like a film within a film. Shot in North Carolina, the film had some lovely skylines, and had many funny moments, especially from McDormand and Rockwell who know how to get laughs by unconventional means. I felt engaged from start to finish (great pacing), I laughed as often as I gasped (let yourself laugh when you can), and enjoyed the performances, (see this movie).

Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

IMDB

2017, 14A, 1h 55m