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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh; November 10, 2017) Movie • Page 6

Discussion in 'Entertainment Forum' started by Joe, Mar 23, 2017.

  1. Nathan

    Always do the right thing. Supporter

    There's still redemption in his arc, even if it's not the redemption Rockwell's character wanted. Part of my issue is that he's allowed that arc despite the film not caring about black people at all (you point it out in Mildred's characterization as well, I think it's a problem in the film as a whole), and part of it is that a huge part of his arc hinges on Woody Harrelson's letter, which says Rockwell always wanted to be a detective, when he's been shown onscreen to seem perfectly content to be an impossibly dumb, racist cop who sits at his desk and reads comic books all day and goes home to live with his mom and turtle at night. Basically the second half of the movie requires you to believe that Rockwell is the kind of guy who possesses the insight to intentionally get beat up so he can scratch a guy's face to get some skin for DNA, but in the first half of the movie he is explicitly and completely inept, dumb, and ignorant to anything besides his own self-interest/propping up Woody Harrelson's reputation. It doesn't work as a movie for a lot of reasons, and the clumsy, incomplete way it handles race is a huge part of it.
     
    suicidesaints likes this.
  2. Anthony_

    A (Cancelled) Dork Prestigious


    I agree with the problems you're mentioning with his character, though. Him suddenly having the intellect and creative thinking skills to do what he does (after being severely burned and spending time in the hospital, also) is illogical and a huge flaw in the screenplay. But that doesn't factor in to any possible redemption for him, especially considering he does it for the selfish reason of wanting to get his job back and because he then does not get the job back. The entire character of Dixon is handled completely wrong in a lot of ways, it's the biggest flaw of the film by far. His story ends with him having completely failed in his last-ditch effort to return to his former station in life, realizing that he has nothing left to lose or live for, and deciding to go kill someone who may have committed a crime just for the hell of it. I just don't seen any redemption there, personally, I really don't.
     
  3. iCarly Rae Jepsen

    run away with me Platinum

    yeah Dixon being portrayed as a dumbass definitely cheapened his arc and is probably why the racial element didn't really stand out to me when I saw it, like they didn't show him as a mean person per se the way Mildred was mean, she ignored her son and was so mean to Peter Dinklage and Penelope, the only good people in that shitty ass town, okay Caleb was nice too
     
  4. OhTheWater

    Let it run Supporter

    I agree with this for the most part. I don't necessarily find the arc of his character to be a simple as "racist is redeemed" like many people are making it out to be.
     
    secretsociety92 likes this.
  5. OhTheWater

    Let it run Supporter

    I mean, getting beat up in a bar fight and scratching a dude's face isn't a hyper intelligent idea. Clever, I guess, but not groundbreaking work. He's an ignorant asshole driven by violence and power. It's fitting he uses violence to attempt to make a change.
     
    secretsociety92 likes this.
  6. Nathan

    Always do the right thing. Supporter

    I don't think the character Three Billboards dramatized up until the barfight is capable of cleverness.
     
    suicidesaints likes this.
  7. Morrissey

    Trusted

    I can't believe Sam Rockwell is going to win awards for hamming it up like that. What people consider "good acting" is so baffling.
     
  8. OhTheWater

    Let it run Supporter

    He was nowhere near the best part of an already middling film
     
  9. Anthony_

    A (Cancelled) Dork Prestigious

    I just don't get the adoration for Rockwell in this, it's really surprising. Dafoe and Hammer deserve it far more, of course. And them not wanting to give Dafoe "his due" is also kind of strange, considering he's been such a well-liked actor for so long (in addition to his performance just being magnificent on its own). They usually like to do that.
     
  10. jjnunn118

    Signal Vs. Noise Prestigious

    This is bad, and it's handling of race is inexcusable.
     
    suicidesaints likes this.
  11. jkauf

    Prestigious Supporter

    Thanks for reminding me about that hospital orange juice scene, absolutely loathed how they shot that.
     
    suicidesaints likes this.
  12. Nathan

    Always do the right thing. Supporter



    Good point from critics of color who are being labeled as being part of a “backlash” when their mixed or negative reviews came out the same time as everybody else’s
     
  13. ALT/MSC/FAN

    It's chaos. Be kind. Prestigious

    I went through all six pages of this thread just now, and watching the transition in the conversation and what people say is so fascinating. The first two pages is nothing but praise, then four pages of detest.

    Out of curiosity, who saw it before/after the think pieces started to come out? And do you feel they influenced your opinion at all? I ask because I saw it Thanksgiving weekend in Ann Arbor, before the conversation started, and I really loved it - next to Get Out, it's my favorite of 2017 right now, and I've seen pretty much everything I plan on seeing, aside from a couple things. I'm waiting for it to expand before I see it again, but I'm not sure how I feel about it now.
     
  14. Morrissey

    Trusted

    Labeling criticism as backlash is a very cheap way to try and erase someone's argument. It is in bad faith; unless someone gives you explicit reasons to doubt their opinion, just assume it is their own.
     
  15. Nathan

    Always do the right thing. Supporter

    I saw it before Christmas sometime and thought it was a messy, bad movie then. Even if it had good performances and McDonagh has strengths that are present in the film.
     
  16. primavera

    big baller brand Supporter

    it isn’t crazy to trace either. the trailer was fantastic and the hype was real for a movie that was garbage. it isn’t rocket science.
     
  17. iCarly Rae Jepsen

    run away with me Platinum

    when I saw it I liked it but thought the use of slurs was overwhelming I guess is the word, I didn't think about message until I read those articles but it made sense in hindsight
     
    suicidesaints likes this.
  18. ALT/MSC/FAN

    It's chaos. Be kind. Prestigious

    That's all I needed. Thanks, you two.
     
  19. jjnunn118 Jan 22, 2018
    (Last edited: Jan 22, 2018)
    jjnunn118

    Signal Vs. Noise Prestigious

    I just saw it today, but I'm fairly certain my opinion would be the same regardless of the thinkpieces that I didn't read until after I saw the film.

    Woody Harrelson was the only performance I saw anything real special in, but that was just woody being woody. Everything else ranged from ok-bad, ignoring the glaring issue of racism and various other slurs.

    Edit: I didn't read the thinkpieces but I had seen the headlines for them so I should admit that there is the potential for an unintended bias
     
    Davjs likes this.
  20. brandon_260

    Trusted Prestigious

    I did not read anything about this movie because I wasted enough time watching it.
     
    Aregala and ALT/MSC/FAN like this.
  21. ALT/MSC/FAN

    It's chaos. Be kind. Prestigious

    Thanks, everyone. Didn't mean to insinuate that an opinion wasn't their own or anything, or that anyone's opinion wasn't valid - I just found the progression of the thread interesting.
     
    suicidesaints and jjnunn118 like this.
  22. suicidesaints

    Trusted Prestigious

    I'll be the first to admit that I didn't hate the movie until I started hearing (particularly Jake Weisman's) criticism of it.

    Upon my initial viewing, some of the racism/sexism was a little off putting, but it did take a little bit of "pointing out" for me to realize just how badly made the movie was. Which is the part that really astounds me as to how people can still defend it.

    If you want to say Rockwell's character wasn't truly redeemed then fine, but it's another thing to not recognize the poor dialogue, plot holes and just plain ridiculousness of the whole movie.
     
    ALT/MSC/FAN likes this.
  23. stayillogical

    Kayak, deed, rotator, noon, racecar, Woo Young-woo Prestigious

    I didn't like it before all the backlash came out. So now I feel vindicated.
     
    primavera and suicidesaints like this.
  24. yeahrightdude

    Trusted Prestigious

    I saw it because Demi Adejuyigbe kept posting about how good it was. I was the only person in the theater so I ended up googling if it was supposed to be ironic or similar to The Room. I felt insane until I saw Jake bashing it on Twitter. Watching the wave of people realize how bad it actually is has been relieving.
     
  25. Jake Gyllenhaal

    Wookie of the Year Supporter

    I still stand by my original opinion of it when I saw it thanksgiving weekend. I enjoyed it for the most part but didn’t like the abrupt unsatisfactory ending. I never saw the racism and abuse of power as glorifying, just as I didn’t see the greed, excess, and misogyny of Wolf of Wall Street glorifying. The constant curveballs the movie kept throwing was intriguing. It was dark humor disguised in small town America.