Three Billboards Outside Ebbing MIssouri Review

So I just watched Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. I went to the theater with the intent to watch The Disaster Artist, but the projector was broken. Billboards had the same start time though, so I figured that sounded good enough.

I didn’t know anything about the movie going in. I hadn’t seen any trailers. I didn’t know who was in it. All I knew was it had good reviews and I read the small description of it on fandango a few weeks ago, but I didn’t really remember it. That made me think it was going to be some sort of Oscar bait drama. Fortunately what I got was much better than I anticipated. If you’re unfamiliar with the premise, it’s basically a dark comedy (think Coen Brothers not Tyler Perry.) A woman in a small town is fed up with waiting after the police fail to come up with any leads for a year following her daughter’s murder. She decides to put up three inflammatory billboards directed at the chief of police. Character drama ensues.

That’s one of the things the movie gets right is the characters. The main character is a sad and broken woman trying to cope, often with sarcasm and humor. Everyone else is also unique and fleshed out. They all have histories, personalities, flaws and motivations. You get who all the characters are and why they do what they do. Not to mention the cast which is excellent. Woody Harrelson always kills it, Sam Rockwell is perpetually underrated, and Peter Dinklage even nails it in a surprisingly small role. (I didn’t intend that as a pun, but I’m going to act like I did.)

The other thing I liked the most was the humor. Sometimes tragedy can lead to the best comedy. There are some really dark and sad situations in this movie, so the fact that it can punctuate those moments with some sharp humor is really impressive.

In terms of story I enjoyed it, but that’s not the point of the movie. The plot is second to the characters. Every story beat is in service to character development. There are consequences to characters’ actions, but that’s never the focus. And that’s my biggest problem with the movie. No plot thread is resolved. The movie ends on a very open ended note. I get that the movie isn’t about the story, but I’ve never been a fan of ambiguous endings, at least not in this way.

Overall I really enjoyed this movie. It’s definitely a case of the journey being more important than the destination, but I thoroughly enjoyed my journey. I give Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri 59 out of 66 Froot Loops.