Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Martin McDonagh; November 10, 2017) Movie • Page 8

It's not about "sucking people in," it's about reading a work critically.

 

the way Harrelson's character said "I have cancer" in the most unnatural shift in dialogue written by (supposedly) a sentient human being made me feel like I was in a simulation

this was then followed by Harrelson coughing blood in McDormand's face cuz hey uh we gotta show that cancer folks

 

gotta show that she still cares about him and isn’t totally hateful all the time, yeah baby!!!

 

I reject the framing of criticism around this film as "backlash" as in there is no way to be against a film without being part of some larger pitchfork driven movement intent on tearing the film down

 

"I hope I get raped"

Nothing else needs to be said

 

This is the most ironic line to say this about considering The Room exists and says that almost word for word.

 

immediately what I thought of tbh

 

Dixon there's a 4th billboard

 

because it says something when the same group of people constantly post about how much they hated this film over and over again. Thinking a movie sucks and trying to constantly convince everyone the movie sucks...i think those are two different things. And that's what it feels like in here

 

I only found out about the love for the movie afterwards so I can only speak for myself as that's not true, but the internet certainty does love to do that though lol so I can't blame you for saying that.

 

The way 90% of you are doing so poorly at criticizing this film in unfunny ways almost makes me want to defend it more.

 

It's not about convincing people, it's simply discussion. Yes, it's become a bit masturbatory in this thread the way we are all piling on to this film, but I think it's because so many of us were deeply offended by this film and can't be bothered giving it any more thought than it deserves.

 

"You have a nice cock"

 

You are turning heel.

 

The way @Morrissey broke down scenes of this movie were perfect and hilarious because they were not exaggerated. Nobody can top it.

 

I said almost! I can’t find too many good things to defend

 

If someone thinks the movie is good, write about your feelings. Explain what you liked. Challenge the interpretation people have of scenes or characters. Way too often we see this defeatist mentality if the majority opinion is different than someone else's. My view isn't absolute, and neither is the view of any one person. I'll criticize Vertigo, which nowadays people are calling the greatest film of all time. If it is a genuinely held opinion, there is not much that can change that.

 

I feel like I missed this...

anyway I honestly enjoyed the movie other than feeling like the ending was abrupt and unsatisfying, just like someone else said. I don't get the criticism about the writing which makes me feel, idk dumb or something haha. but it is what it is.

 

i had a big thing typed out about how Harrelson's note could potentially make sense and people are overlooking the significance of the death of his character but then i realized i don't care that much

 

just a random thing that @Morrissey mentioned but was never brought up again...

Why is the police station closed at night?

 

Small town, low funding? I didn't find this unusual because my hometown doesn't have an overnight police force. They rely on the county police to take any emergency calls that occur during the off hours

 

Page 3 and 4 of the thread. Here are my favorites though.

 

I guess.

 

Three Billboards is not a racist film. What's really 'problematic' is Twitter's appetite for controversy

 

That piece, by generalizing much of the criticism of Three Billboards to Twitter, falls into the same pattern of ignoring the negative reviews, primarily by critics of color, published upon release. Yeah, I’m sure plenty of people on Twitter are talking more about this movie now because it has awards attention. But that’s not really an honest engagement with the critiques.

It also assumes critics of the movie don’t understand that depiction isn’t endorsement. I know McDonagh isn’t approving of Rockwell’s actions. It’s the messy handling of Rockwell’s actions that doesn’t give weight to his racism, which happens offscreen, or extend the perspective of his film to black characters actually affected by his racism. By keeping the film white, it limits its ability to speak to racism, which I know he’s trying to do and feel like he’s definitely well-intentioned on, he just really flubbed the execution. Not to mention the clumsy narrative arc of Rockwell’s character in general. The author is right, the political and social climate in 2017 is one where a movie critiquing police and justice institutions should be powerful. Three Billboards doesn’t bring much of anything unique to the conversation, though.

Asking why we aren’t as mad at Frances McDormand for acting in this movie as we are at McDonagh for writing it is so ridiculous it doesn’t really warrant response.

Critic Jonathan Gray summed up well why Three Billboards is such an inessential, misguided mess of a movie: