Deep, personal pain can drive every one of us. Whether it comes from the lost of a loved one or from resentment at your lowly place in the world, we sometimes let that pain take control. It may not necessarily be right, but it makes us human.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is an interesting character study about people dealing with their pain in ways that aren’t entirely productive. Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell bring their deeply scarred characters to life in powerful ways. The film’s success centers around these two characters.
However, the rest of the film is inconsistent and often problematic. Three Billboards is funnier than you would think, and that works both for and against it. The tone takes you out of the story in a few moments, the film feels long, and the conclusion somehow combines all of these disparate traits into an unsatisfying ending. Tragically, the film also has a problematic look at race in rural America that takes away from the film’s already muddled message.
Pain and Consequence
The sleepy rural town of Ebbing, Missouri is rocked after Mildred (McDormand) posts inflammatory messages on three billboards outside of town. They call out the popular Chief Wiloughby (Woody Harrelson) and the local police for their inability to solve the murder of her teenage daughter. Among those most angered by the billboards is volatile and dimwitted deputy Dixon (Rockwell), who lashes out in the worst ways. Even as the rest of the town turns on her, Mildred stands her ground and the resulting tension could erupt in violence.
McDormand’s Mildred is a powerful character and the driving force behind the film’s overall message about dealing with personal pain. While Mildred’s motives are noble and sympathetic, her methods are questionable. Her first instinct is to lash out in anger…understandable given her loss, but also it works against her cause. There will be several times when you will cringe at her actions.
McDormand is amazing portraying this nearly broken woman. She never portrays her as a victim, or as a superwoman capable of anything. She is simply a woman dealing with her pain in the only way she knows how…she confronts it. As stated above, it works against her in many ways, but it’s also compelling to watch.
Rockwell’s Dixon is a different case. When we first meet the man, he is an ignorant racist with a terrible temper he rarely tries to control. Dixon is impulsive, a bad trait to have with his hateful resentment of his place in the world. He dreams of being a detective despite his less than stellar record and he hates the fact that no one seems to think he is worthy of the position.
Rockwell is great as Dixon, bringing a weird charm to an otherwise reprehensible character. His character provides most of the laughs (Some of them very uncomfortable laughs…more on that later) and his dimwitted ways often lighten the mood. The character is not as deep as Mildred, with his pain being less sympathetic, but Rockwell gives the volatile character much needed humanity.
Together, the two characters drive the little bit of plot that forms the backbone of the narrative. Mildred’s journey is powerful and Dixon plays an unexpected role in it. They become unlikely kindred souls as Dixon becomes the only one who seems to understand Mildred’s pain. It’s an unexpected twist that only slightly works because of the two actors playing the characters.
The rest of the cast is hit and miss. Woody Harrelson is solid as the popular Chief Wiloughby. The man is utterly likable despite the fact that his failures drive the conflict in the film. Harrelson is always great at portraying those characters, but it doesn’t stand out too much. On the other hand, Peter Dinklage is virtually wasted in his role as James, a man interested in Mildred. He disappears for long stretches of time. And Abbie Cornish brings an inconsistent accent to her role as Wiloughby’s wife Anne. She seemingly tries to do a southern accent early in the film, but then is suddenly Australian for her bigger dialogue scenes, as though director McDonagh just told her to give it up. Whatever the case may be, it seems strange for an Australian woman to be in a small town in Missouri and it takes you out of the film.
A Problematic Tone In More Ways Than One
Three Billboards works best as a character study, but in terms of story, problems arise. The overall tone is wildly inconsistent. I will be the first to say that no film has to have only one tone…for example, dramas should have moments of levity while action films should have touching emotion. But the humor in this film is often jarring, taking you out of the story at times.
The film’s message also becomes muddled. Pain and dealing with it becomes lost in a weird mix of odd humor, character decisions that make little sense, and on the nose script writing. The film also starts to feel long, as the story takes turns that feel unnecessary or lingering on comedic scenes longer than they should.
The film’s conclusion is wholly unsatisfying as well. This is not due to a lack of answers, but because if feels like it comes out of nowhere. It stays somewhat consistent to the “lashing out from your pain” theme, but it just doesn’t feel right.
Let’s return to that odd humor in the film. There is a scene where Dixon and Mildred face off in an interrogation room. Throughout the early stages of Three Billboards, the film tells us that Dixon tortured an African American man during an interrogation. In this scene, that knowledge is used in a strange, repeated joke about “torturing people of color” that draws uncomfortable laughs. This is one sign of the film’s problematic look at race.
While race relations are not a main focus of the film, they do play a major role in Dixon’s backstory and in the plot. It feels like we need to see this unfortunate character trait in action. And yet, there are only three small speaking roles for people of color in the film…and two of them disappear for long stretches of time. One, played by Clarke Peters, is seemingly given a large part, but it feels like a throwaway role. How can this film talk about race when nearly every main character is white?
Dixon is a blatant racist, but Rockwell and the script treat him as redeemable. At one point, he is seen as essentially a good man who simply has to control his rage. It’s what I would call the Archie Bunker effect, where racism is sometimes dismissed as a trait that can be overcome. Redemption is always a powerful thing, but it feels misplaced in the present day where toxic racism is somehow becoming mainstream.
On the other hand, Mildred calling Dixon out on this is also problematic. It points to the “white savior” ideal that has always been a problem in Hollywood films. Why is she the one who calls him out on this? Granted, Peters’ character does put Dixon in his place, but he only does it after he does something drastic…to a white character. Mildred’s stance feels like white Hollywood patting itself on the back for being so enlightened.
A Troubled Character Study
Three Billboards is an inconsistent film with some strong character moments. If the film stayed there, it might have been more successful. It has some interesting things to say about personal pain. But the film can’t help being humorously quirky. And its views on race are problematic to say the least. Unfortunately, we have another overrated film making the rounds this awards season.
SCORE: 6 OUT OF 10