Seven Psychopaths, written and directed by Martin McDonagh, is about a guy named Marty (Colin Farrell), who is trying to write a screenplay called Seven Psychopaths. All he’s got is that fantastic title, and the regrettable urge to avoid violent crime-movie cliches.  

That is, until his plot gets some real-life inspiration from best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell). Billy is a typically Rockwellian nut who kidnaps dogs and sells them back to their owners with partner-in-crime Hans (Christopher Walken). Without much thought, they nab a Shih Tzu belonging to Charlie (Woody Harrelson), a violent gangster who falls to pieces over his beloved pooch.

That’s four psychopaths in the can. Another is Zachariah (Tom Waits), who claims to be a vigilante killer but shows a fondness for bunny rabbits. The movie’s ad campaign rounds out the count with Marty and Billy’s girlfriends (Abbie Cornish and Olga Kurylenko, respectively) who don’t seem all that crazy. Maybe it’s just relative. Anyway, all eventually play a part in Marty’s movie, which we don’t get to see, unless by the end credits we already have.

Bereft of much narrative focus, Seven Psychopaths benefits from the best ensemble cast of the year. It’s a murderer’s row of stars (Walken, Harrelson) and cult favourites (Rockwell, Waits, a cool cameo from Harry Dean Stanton), with a fine anchor in the always-underrated Farrell. When the story wanders, as it often does, you may be having too much fun watching these guys to notice.

The film has a glut of sub-stories and diversions within its plot structure, usually involving a character telling a tale to inspire or change Marty’s screenplay, and most of them are perfectly entertaining. They just don’t add up to a satisfying point. If McDonagh is trying to say something about crime movie cliches and his creative process, I haven’t a clue what it is.

Maybe the irony of a screenwriter trying to avoid violence in his work while real violence circles around him is a deep enough concept. But considering the powerful statements on actual gun violence in McDonagh’s film debut In Bruges (2008) his Tarantino-esque movie-on-movie commentary is a little reductive. Maybe I’ve had enough of “meta” movies in general. There are ways to self-comment without forcing a story to turn around and kick its own ass.


Director: Martin McDonagh
Alliance, 110 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5

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