Seven Psychopaths

Two hit men discuss their intended victim, the boss' girlfriend. One of them tries to recall if John Dillinger was shot in the eye, leading to a discussion with his about the probability of people getting shot in the eye in general. The other hitman doesn't think it's likely as it requires very good aim, but the other counters that in situations where hundreds of bullets are fired, it's very likely that many people end up shot in the eye. Their discussion is halted by the arrival of the film's first psychopath the "Jack of Hearts Killer" who approaches shoots both hitmen in their heads and leaves a Jack of Hearts playing card on each of the bodies before running off.

Marty (Colin Ferell) is a successful screenwriter who is having a hard time writing his latest script. He has a title, "Seven Psychopaths" and an idea to find some interesting psychopath stories, as the only one he has so far is in mind so far is a Buddhist pacifist. This may explain his trouble getting anything written. He knows his girlfriend Kaya (Abbie Cornish) is angry with him, but she won't tell him why.

He's soon joined by his friend, Billy Bickle (Sam Rockwell) a big fan of Marty's writing, and a constant reminder to Marty that he drinks too much. Billy suggests the Jack of Hearts killer as a possible psychopath for the script. Marty agrees that a killer who only kills members of the mafia "and yakuza" would be a great addition to his cast of characters. Marty also comes up with the idea of a Quaker psychopath, (played in the story by Harry Dean Stanton) who stalks the man who killed his daughter for decades, long after he serves a prison sentence and reforms. The man is finally so determined to be free of the Quaker that he cuts his own throat, thinking that Hell may be the only place the Quaker can't follow him. However, the last thing the man sees is the Quaker cutting his throat as well. The Quaker's story prompts Billy to question Marty's alcoholism, since he recalls telling Marty the Quaker story not long ago, although Marty sincerely believes he wrote it.

Billy is a struggling actor, who loses a job by punching his director. To make money, he and his friend Hans (Christopher Walken)  kidnap neighborhood dogs and hold them until the owners post rewards, which they claim when returning them. Their operation is interrupted when they steal the Shih-Tzu of local psychopath and mobster, Charlie (Woody Harrelson.) One of his men has heard of suspicious dognappings, which points them in the direction of Billy and Hans, as well as Marty who's staying with Billy after his girlfriend kicks him out of the house.

Billy puts an ad in the paper asking for psychopaths willing to tell Marty their story. This ad is answered by a man named Zacariah (Tom Waits) who shows up carrying a rabbit. He tells Marty that he once rescued an injured girl from a judge's basement, and the two fell in love and became serial killer-killers, until he got tired of the cruelty and bloodshed causing his girlfriend to leave him after they dispatched the Zodiac killer. He asks Marty to put a message to his girlfriend in the movie when it gets made, and Marty promises to do so "on his life."

It isn't long before Charlie's men close in. They question Marty and Hans at the dog kennel although they're saved unexpectedly by the Jack of Hearts killer. Charlie himself starts looking for Hans, finding his wife Myra (Linda Bright Clay)  in the hospital. Realizing that Hans is about to enter the hospital for his daily visit, she angers Charlie, who kills her, and leaves the room, which tips off Hans in time to keep from getting spotted.

Marty, Billy and Hans decide to retreat to the desert.  On the way they discuss Marty's screenplay, Marty states that he wants to make a movie without a conventional shootout ending, as he told Billy earlier, " I'm sick of all these stereotypical Hollywood murderer scumbag type psychopath movies. I don't want it to be one more film about guys with guns in their hands. I want it, overall, to be about love, and peace."

Billy insists that a shootout is exactly the way to go, even pointing out a spot along the way that would be perfect for the final shootout. Marty reveals that he's having trouble finishing the story of one of his psychopaths, a Vietnamese man who was Viet Cong and journeyed to America after the war, to take what revenge he can for the brutality and destruction of his village. Marty can't get past a scene of the man in his hotel room dressed as a priest, with a hooker arriving, as he plots his next move. They toss it back and forth along and Billy also contributes his vision of an over the top final showdown scenario. All the while, their own showdown approaches, as Charlie discovers where they are, and we wonder whose ending will happen Billy's or Marty's.

This film has seen a lot of comparison to Quentin Tarantino's work, a comparison I really don't get, other than using crime as a story point, and offbeat dialogue. McDonagh clearly has his own style and concerns which are a long way away from Tarantino. In "Seven Psychopaths" he both tells a story about a number of psychopaths and takes a look at our preoccupation with them (and violence) in the movies. This is not however, a movie that aims to solve any problems, but I didn't expect it to do so. I was satisfied with the effort to talk about these things, examining them from many different points of view.

The character of Marty seems, to some degree to be a stand in for McDonagh. He watches everything unfold as an outsider, to his own detriment sometimes, as this detachment doesn't do his relationship with his girlfriend any favors. I would resist the urge to view the character as too autobiographical though, since McDonagh is clearly aware that he's telling a story and must keep it entertaining.  Marty is obviously successful at his screenwriting trade, enough that he can sell a script based on nothing but the title. The fact that the title is "Seven Psychopaths," is it's own statement. Clearly that's a movie everyone wants to see, unfortunately for Marty, he doesn't have the heart for it anymore. He'd rather write about peace and love, but the pacifist Buddhist character he has in mind won't fit into his story.

More than anything else, the film centers on the friendship between Marty and Billy. Billy ends up being the most prominent psychopath in the story, but that doesn't call his sense of friendship into question. Billy is a fan of  "Seven Psychopaths" and wants to see it done the way he imagines, with lots of shooting and an unbelievable showdown. This makes sense, as Billy has a secret life, seemingly designed to be a good part of   Marty's story. His enthusiasm for Marty's project leads him to put his own, and everyone around him in danger. Whether he's a textbook psychopath or not is debatable, since despite his strange and reckless behavior he does have a very real devotion to Marty, most evidenced by his constant encouragement for Marty to quit drinking.  Sam Rockwell is perfect in the role, coming across as both likable and deranged, and sometimes both at once, depending on the situation.

Christopher Walken's presence is also very large in this film. His Hans is an interesting foil for Billy Bickle. We learn that he once leaned towards the psychotic side himself. Marty tells the story about the Quaker who avenged his daughter by stalking a man until he killed himself and Hans reveals a scar across his neck. Unlike Billy though, Hans isn't sure anymore that that was the right thing to do. He reveals to his wife that he isn't sure of a lot of things, including heaven and hell. He quotes Gandhi's "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." which Marty agrees with, and Billy insists is wrong. After taking some peyote in the desert, he has a vision of his now dead wife, "in a grey place" with a bullet hole still in her head, making him doubt his beliefs even more. He leaves Marty and Billy and walks into town. Running into Charlie's men, he's told to put his hands up, as they have guns. "No." he replies confounding them. Those are the rules after all, the man with the gun says "hands up," and you put them up. Hans, however is done with those rules and his refusal makes it their dilemma to solve, not his. He does manage to leave a possible solution for Marty's Vietnamese priest storyline, suggesting that the whole hotel room scene was in the imagination of a monk preparing to immolate himself. As he's urged by those around him not to do it, as "it won't help," the monk only replies "It might." before lighting a match.

The monk's story is the first glimpse that Marty has of making the movie with the ending he wants, violence subverted into a hopeful act, which may or may not make any difference, except to keep the conversation open. While "Seven Psychopaths" has a lot of fun poking at all the conventions of psychopath movies, including Marty's sparse and badly written female characters, and the hypocrisy of studios approving the killing of those same female characters, while refusing to suggest violence towards a pet. At one point, Marty tells Charlie that he "doesn't believe in guns." Woody Harrelson's Charlie, laughs and says "They're not leprechauns." an amusing conversation which seems to highlight McDonagh's insistence that like it or not, believe it or not, the guns are there, and when they shoot bullets, people get hurt and bad things happen. Charlie and Billy embrace this fact, but Marty and Hans are just tired of it. In another exchange Charlie and Marty discuss the situation and Charlie tells Marty to cheer up, pointing out "I've lost five of my friends, you only lost two." pointing back to the earlier Gandhi quote from a different angle.

The other psychopath of note, is Tom Waits as Zacariah, the tragicomic ex serial killer-killer who lost his true love when he lost his stomach for killing. While he is something of a peripheral figure, his stories parallel to that of Hans reinforces the idea of regret as the logical consequence of violence. Of course. it's also just a lot of fun watching Tom Waits telling absurd murder stories with the style that only he can bring. Woody Harrelson is perfect as the cold blooded mob boss with his own sensibilities. Colin Ferrell is perfect as the center of it all, and manages to remain detached even as he's prodded to take action.

"Seven Psychopaths" is a movie about a movie. I don't fault it for not presenting any solutions, since it never pretends to be anything but a dark comedy, and succeeded at making me laugh quite often. McDonagh seems to enjoy the climactic shoot out as much as anyone, but at the same time asks why it always has to go that way. I don't see this as a contradiction, as much as the way a conversation works, and it should be obvious to anyone that conversation is the most important element at work here. Throughout the conversation, McDonagh does insist on one thing though, that the bullets don't just disappear, each one has consequences. Even a flare gun is there for a reason.

I was quite happy to consider all the points brought up in the film, without expecting McDonagh to put the problematic questions to bed. He doesn't claim to have a solution to our attraction to violence and violent movies, and neither does he deny his own interest in this tug of war between possible endings. Certainly the reality of guns and gun violence have been on the minds of many lately and we could benefit from more conversation, and movies that wonder why people can't just go into the desert and talk things out. The quick answer is an easy one, that movie wouldn't make any money. But to go a step further and ask why that is, is much tougher. Even the monk didn't know, but he did something with the question, because "It might" make a difference. If everyone waits to speak until they've solved these problems, there won't be much talking at all. I appreciate that McDonagh trusts his audience to do their own thinking, while keeping an interesting conversation going. It's especially easy to follow along with such a smart script, and fantastic actors batting these ideas around.

The Assassination of Jesse James by That Coward Robert Ford

Jesse James was one of the first American criminals to be celebrated by a public still troubled by the wounds of the civil war. Setting the stage for Al Capone later on, he was considered an outlaw in the vein of Robin Hood and probably America's first real celebrity. Before there were movies, he was fictionalized in countless news reports and dime novels achieving legendary status in his own lifetime and long afterwards.Brad Pitt's portrayal of Jesse James here is flawless, showing humanity, brutality, and an otherworldly quality that's suits the status of his subject.

Pitt's Jese James exhibits a deep weariness, as if he's seen everything that will happen already, but can't help trying to prevent it. When James appears (always unexpectedly) in a room, you can feel the unease of of everyone around him. James asks simple questions with deeper meanings and watches everyone squirm to answer right. Switching instantly from the most affable man in the room, to an inhumanly accusing stare. You get the sense that Jesse James could kill you with a look if needed. Jesse himself says "There ain't no peace when Jesse's around." and he's absolutely right.

As the film progresses, Jesse starts questioning everyone around him, suspecting (rightly so) that the record breaking bounty the government put on his head will drive his friends to betray him. He moves frequently renting homes under different names. Even his kids don't know who he really is, thinking of him instead as Mr. Howard. You could call it paranoia if his suspicions weren't always right. An official talking rith Bob Ford after he's agreed to bring in Jesse James says, "we don't know how but he always knows what's going on. He'll know I was here talking to you. Count on it." Jesse reads the future from entrails, he reads signs from nature, he even gives snakes the names of his enemies and then kills them. He comes across more as a force of nature than a man at times.

However, as hard as it is to remember when Jesse James is around, this movie isn't really about him, it's about Robert Ford the man who shot him. Casey Affleck plays Bob Ford in a performance that's as great as it is hard to like. Bob Ford is a smitten kid who worships a legend. His awkwardness when trying to make an impression on Frank and Jesse is painful to look at. He drops sentiments like "I'm destined for great things." into conversation, not realizing that it's about as convincing as writing  BADASS on your T-shirt.  Frank James (Sam Shephard) immediately dismisses him as a nuisance, barely hearing a word that Bob Ford says. Bob manages to get around Frank and fortunately (or not) discovers that Jesse at this point in time will let anyone ride with them.

After robbing a train with the James gang, he can't stop smiling from ear to ear. He finally gets a minute alone with Jesse, joining him to smoke a cigar on the porch. He tells Jesse all about the books he's read about him. "All lies" James tells him adding that he doesn't have to keep smoking the cigar if it doesn't agree with him. Ford is ecstatic the next day when Jesse sends the gang home but lets him stay. He doesn't realize that he's only staying to help Jesse move. Unexpectedly he allows Bob to stay a few days extra, during which time Bob fantasizes about staying forever accepted as a "cousin" to Jesse's kids. Jesse gets unsettled realizing that Bob is watching him take a bath. He asks Bob "Do you want to be like me, or do you want to be me?" before sending Bob home. Bob struggles to handle the rejection from his idol, but clearly never gets over it.

Voice over narration is used throughout the movie, giving it the feel of a documentary, or a movie that's a novel at the same time. (The movie was adapted from the novel of the same name.) The low key smooth narration also adds to the sense of the inevitable, reminding that this is possibly what really happened (for the purposes of the fi;m) This gives the acting a weightier feel as if we're watching people caught in history on the screen.

Keep in mind that this is a very long movie, (160 minutes) and while there is some action, it's more a slow deliberate period piece focused on characterization far more than action. I wouldn't recommend watching unless you have some time set aside and feel relaxed enough to absorb it. (Personally I didn't even realize the length when I first watched it as the story quickly grabbed my attention) Director Andrew Dominik seems to take his time intentionally as if trying to prolong our visit to a time that's been forgotten for a long time now, but is still relevant today. The cinematography is breathtaking, contrasting the harshness of the old west with careful attention to character movement. We can tell who's lying the same way Jesse James can, by watching their tics as he questions them.

In an inspired choice, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis provide a delicately somber soundtrack. I can't think of anyone better given Cave's affection for outlaws and murder ballads. He even shows up for a cameo, after the shooting, singing the song that summed up public opinion of Robert Ford


Every supporting character is superb as well. Sam Shephard's Frank James is the perfect foil for Jesse, distanced and practical as Jesse is hot headed and emotional.  Frank can't wait to disband the gang, planning to sell shoes somewhere in peace and quiet. Sam Rockwell is Bob's brother Charlie, the only character supporting Bob for most of the movie. Knowing Bob's admiration for Jesse, he continually talks up his brother as perfect for upcoming jobs. After some particularly lavish praise, Jesse looks at Charlie and says, "You forget, I've met Bob."

After several interactions convince Bob that Jesse James will never be impressed with him, Bob decides he'll get his fame and fortune another way by turning Jesse in for the reward money. Watching him at a party where he's set to meet the Governor to discuss terms, you get a feel for his ambitions. Although the arrangement is not supposed to be public, Bob can't help but sneak into the party, trying to be seen among the important people. The Governor dresses him down for this and of course Bob turns meek and bashful again, but still decides to go through with it.

Eventually Bob and Charlie are all that's left of the gang. They go to live with Jesse while planning a bank job. Jesse is suspicious of everyone at this point and both brothers know he may kill them suspecting a plot against himself. Bob tells Charlie about his arrangement with the governor to kill Jesse James. Charlie responds, "But, he's our friend." That's Charlie, loyal to a fault, to both Jessie and his brother. Unfortunately if you know the story or read the title, you know he only gets to keep one of them. Of course the atmosphere is almost unbearable for Bob and Charlie. Jesse's behavior becomes more erratic daily. They don't know if Jesse needs their help, plans to kill them or both.


The scene where Bob shoots Jesse James is played wonderfully and James almost seems to be inviting Bob to do what he came to do. He announces his taking off his gun belt (so the neighbors don't see his guns in the window) lays them carefully down and walks across the room to get up on a chair to dust a picture high on the wall that doesn't really look dusty, all while knowing that Bob has a gun (that Jesse had just given him as a gift) We're shown the reflection of Bob raising the gun and aiming in the glass of the picture. Jesse James doesn't seem at all surprised and doesn't even move, as if he expected it to happen. Afterwards Jesse's wife Zee comes into the room screaming and sobbing. Bob just sits on the couch as if exhausted, unaffected by Jesse's  wife and kids' turmoil, even swearing to Zee with gun in hand that he didn't do it.

Bob immediately tries to play up his celebrity, staging reenactments of the shooting for audiences every night. Charlie acts out Jesse's part and this soon takes it's toll on him. Bob is called a coward everywhere he goes and ends up as despised as Jesse James was admired. Even in death people love Jesse James, paying to see his corpse, which is travelling around the country, or even paying for pictures of it. Clearly Bob hasn't arrived at great things, his betrayal has only cemented the legend. He imagines visiting the surviving relatives of James' victims and announcing himself, still desperate to be as big as James was. He thought that the man who shot Jesse James would be a hero and on paper he would've been right. Bob Ford was on the side of the law after all.  The Jesse James/Bob Ford story tells us that being a "hero" or not, has less to do with the moral code, than the qualities we admire (or dislike in Bob's case) in a man. Speaking to a girlfriend of the incident long afterwards Bob says. "I thought there'd be applause."

He just forgot that the public loved Jesse James.  Jesse James (in their minds) had strength and courage and heart, all of which were seriously lacking in Bob. The people felt the betrayal so acutely (his shows probably helped with that) that he may as well have betrayed them. Eventually it catches up with Bob, although his death is not mourned by anyone. (I should also add that Jesse James was quickly adopted by film. Over fifty movies have featured him starting as early as 1921. His influence refuses to go away.)