Most people are going to say “Seven Psychopaths is totally like a Quentin Tarantino movie” or worse yet “it’s so QT” and you know? I think that’s wrong. Why does Quentin Tarantino have a monopoly on movies that involve semi-crazy “character” characters wielding weapons? He shouldn’t. And as much as I love Tarantino and his movies, I can imagine myself hating him.
So yes, Seven Psychopaths has some zany characters and there is a fair amount of violence and it’s a dark comedy – emphasis on dark. People get killed, it verges on being a little heavy at times, and the jokes made me feel sad sometimes. Then again, this is a movie from the guy who made In Bruges. If you didn’t enjoy that movie, I’d venture a guess that you won’t like this one.
Some stuff in the movie is offensive not so much because someone is saying it but because I was watching it and thinking “I know people who would or have said this.” It was offensive that the characters weren’t caricatures but characters in somewhat absurd situations that could probably exist. Got a couple uses of the N-word (no Samuel L. Jackson, I won’t say it!), “fatty”, “faggot”, etc. Was it meant to be surprising and to offend people? I just don’t know. Did I think “Fuck, I have encountered that man and he is the WORST”? Yes. One hundo percent, yes.
All the same, I thought it was just okay. The acting was good – I mean, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, SAM FUCKING ROCKWELL, and Colin Farrell – come on, slam dunk. And yeah, I’m a fan of gratuitous violence so it delivered in a few scenes. But it just wasn’t all there. I didn’t feel invested, I never laughed out loud, I was never worried. I felt no emotional connection which kind of means a lot to me in a movie.
A quality one-time watch. I have no desire to watch it again nor would I go around telling every human person I encounter to run out and see it, but ya know…it was all right and all that.
And a quick note to dudes hoping to see Abbie Cornish and/or Olga Kurylenko and their wicked bods? They’re on-screen for about two minutes each. And they’re clothed.
*** stars
threesixfiveFILM 