Seven Psychopaths (DVD Screening)

(Spoilers)

If I am honest the main reason that I watched Seven Psychopaths was because it features Sam Rockwell.  Rockwell has quickly become my favourite actor due to his performances in films such as The Way Way Back, Moon and Iron Man 2.  It’s as simple as that really, and also once I began to talk about watching this movie I was met with such a positive response and it was that response that really pushed me to watch this movie.

Seven Psychopaths is quite a strange movie and it may not appeal to a wide audience, definitely less so than some of Rockwell’s other movies however this didn’t stop me from enjoying it, I actually thought it was brilliant. Now it wasn’t just Rockwell that I thought was a good edition to the cast, I am also a big fan of Christopher Walken and Woody Harrelson so I was pleased to see them feature. I am also warming to Colin Farrell recently so was happy enough for him to get some screen time too, all of these actors performed really well helping to portray the craziness of this movie perfectly.  Crazy really doesn’t do this movie justice and at times, predominantly the beginning of the movie I was slightly confused as to which of the psychopaths were actually in the movie opposed to the screenplay being written in the movie, also of the same title.  However this confusion is quickly straightened out and I was able to fully interact with the movie from then on.

Despite the fantastic performances all round, Rockwell still managed to steal the show for me. The nature of his character did help this but even then I was probably always going to be biased. My favourite scene featured Rockwell’s character Billy describing his ending to the screenplay. This scene was just fantastic, it had everything – the slapstick over the top violence, the genuinely funny content and Rockwell’s brilliant performance, it will be this scene that I remember most vividly however the events of the film after this only continue to a standard similar to this scene making for a great finale.  Seven Psychopaths is a dark comedy, but it is one that really did the balance perfect.  Sometimes these types of movies can come off too dark making it hard for the viewers to known whether or not they should laugh, here you knew when to laugh and I most certainly did laugh. Despite this there are some softer moments and it is these that add another dimension to this film, one that I am looking forward to watching again soon.

BIGGEST FLAW – Some confusion over which psychopaths were characters in the movie opposed to the screenplay

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – Scene mentioned above

Rating – 9/10