“Seven Psychopaths” is unlike any film I have ever seen. A dark comedy which the character Hans would even say “has many layers”, but its the way the film was written and how the characters are presented, it definitely made this film much more satisfying. An original and unique film with a lot of twists along the way, Martin McDonagh’s “Seven Psychopaths” is recommended!
© 2012 Blueprint Pictures (Seven) Limited, Film4 and The British Film Institute. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: Seven Psychopaths
AIR DATE: 2012
DURATION: 110 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 2:40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish
COMPANY: CBS Films/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: R (For Strong Violence, Bloody Images, Pervasive Language, Sexuality/Nudity and Some Drug Use)
RELEASE DATE: January 29, 2013
Directed by Martin McDonagh
Written by Martin McDonagh
Produced by Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Martin McDonagh
Co-Producer: Betsy Dansbury, Sarah Harvey
Executive Producer: Tessa Ross
Music by Carter Burwell
Cinematography by Ben Davis
Edited by Lisa Gunning
Casting by Sarah Finn
Production Design by David Wasco
Art Direction by John Dexter
Set Decoration by Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Costume Design by Karen Patch
Starring:
Sam Rockwell as Billy
Colin Farell as Marty
Christopher Walken as Hans
Woody Harrelson as Charlie
Gabourey Sidibe as Sharice
Olga Kurylenko as Angela
Tom Waits as Zachariah
From Oscar®-nominated writer and director Martin McDonagh (Best Original Screenplay, In Bruges, 2008) comes a star-studded, blood-drenched black comedy. Marty (Colin Farrell) is a struggling writer who dreams of finishing his screenplay “Seven Psychopaths†and all he needs is a little focus and inspiration. Billy (Sam Rockwell) is Marty’s best friend, an unemployed actor and part time dog thief, who wants to help Marty by any means necessary. Hans (Christopher Walken) is Billy’s partner in crime, a religious man with a violent past. Charlie (Woody Harrelson) is the psychotic gangster whose beloved dog Billy and Hans have just stolen. Charlie is unpredictable, extremely violent and wouldn’t think twice about killing anyone or anything associated with the theft. Marty is going to get all the focus and inspiration he needs, just as long as he lives to tell the tale.
From British filmmaker Martin McDonagh (“In Bruges”, “Six Shooter”) comes the black comedy film “Seven Psychopaths”. Premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in Sept. 2012 and released in theaters the following month, “Seven Psychopaths” will now be released on DVD in Jan. 2013.
The film begins with a writer named Marty Faranan (portrayed by Colin Farrell), who is working on a screenplay titled “Seven Psychopaths”, about seven psychopaths but for now, all he can think of is one. A Vietnamese victim who wants revenge on the US military that killed his family during the Vietnam War. And wanting to create an action-film, he’s have a difficulty coming up with ideas.
Meanwhile, his friends include Billy Bickle (portrayed by Sam Rockwell), an unemployed actor and a crazy guy who steals dogs for a living in order to get owners cash rewards for the dog’s safe return. Billy tries to help Marty by trying to get him to use real serial killers as inspiration for the psychopaths such as the “Jack of Diamonds” killer (who is known for leaving the Jack of Diamonds with those he kills) and even “Quaker”, who stalks his daughters killer for decades. Billy goes as far as to place an advertisement in a newspaper inviting psychopaths to share their stories with Marty.
Marty also hangs out with a religious man named Hans Kieslowski (portrayed by Christopher Walken) who is trying to take care of his wife Myra (portrayed by Linda Bright), who is hospitalized for cancer.
One day, Billy and Hans steal a Shih Tzu named Bonny, unaware that it belongs to Charlie Costello (portrayed by Woody Harrelson), a violent gangster. When one of Charlie’s men named Paulo (portrayed by Zelijko Ivanek) finds out that Hans is connected to the kidnapping, they go to Billy’s home where they threaten to kill Marty and Hans unless they reveal Bonny’s location. But the Jack of Diamonds killer arrives and kills Charlie’s thugs.
Meanwhile, a murderer named Zachariah Rigby (portrayed by Tom Waits), responds to the ad in the newspaper. And he tells Marty a story about how he rescued a girl named Maggie from a killer’s basement long ago. And the two became a couple and would become serial killers of actual killers. Traveling around America and murdering killers. But when he found Maggie to be to cruel in her methods of killing, the two split. And Zachariah wants Marty to leave a message for Maggie at the end of the film if he plans to use his story in his screenplay. And Marty swears on his life that he will.
As Hans is planning to visit his wife in the hospital, Charlie gets there before he does. Very emotional about his dog being stolen and worried that his Bonny will be killed, he sends a message to Hans and his friends by killing Myra.
These events then lead to Billy killing Charlie’s ex-girlfriend Angela (portrayed by Olga Kurylenko) and leading Marty, Billy and Hans to go on the run with Bonny. And as Marty spends time with Billy and Hans in the middle of nowhere, he quickly learns that his two friends have a secret they have been hiding. And as for Billy, he has invited Charlie and his men to come get his dog at their location, in hopes for a major shootout.
VIDEO, AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Seven Psychopaths” is presented in 2:40:1 anamorphic widescreen and English 5.1 Dolby Digital. It’s important to note that if you want the best picture quality possible for “Seven Psychopaths”, you will want to purchase a Blu-ray review copy of the film.
As for the DVD, picture quality is as good as it gets on DVD. Picture quality features very good detail and warm colors. Closeups are very good and considering the film is shot outdoors, the DVD looks very good but obviously, I’m quite sure the Blu-ray version looks magnificent.
As for audio, the film is pretty much a dialogue driven film, so mostly the audio is center and front-channel driven. There are some action scenes involving gunfire towards the end but for the most part, dialogue and music are clear.
Subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Seven Psychopaths” comes with the following special features:
- Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths – (2:31) Director Martin McDonagh talks about the film and its cast.
- Colin Farrell is Marty – (1:25) A short featurette about Colin Farell as Marty.
- Woody Harrelson is Charlie – (1:24) A short featurette about Woody Harrelson playing Charlie.
- Crazy Locations – (2:09) A short featurette about where the film was shot.
- Layers – (1:05) A short featurette with video clips going along with Billy’s beat boxing.
EXTRAS:
“Seven Psychopaths” comes with an Ultraviolet code which allows one to download the film to their computer and select Apple and Android devices and the ability to stream to computers, tablets or smartphones.
So far, leave it to Martin McDonagh to create unique films that are nothing like typical, banal Hollywood films.
The director who wowed audiences and film critics with “In Bruges” is back with a film that is a black comedy featuring amoral characters that literally builds into this standoff of who can be the better psychopath.
With two storylines within the film, one that involves a screenplay about “Seven Psycopaths” and the lead character trying to find inspiration for his film by talking to actual serial killers, the violent storylines that he tries to think up for his screenplay is quite fascinating, very violent but also humorous.
But it’s the battle between Marty’s friends vs. Charlie and his thugs that make the film worth watching. While Marty is the most reserved, Hans is quiet, it’s Billy that is the mysterious unknown character because at first, you think he’s just a con-man, but the more the film continues, you realize that he is quite a psychopath. And the fact that he has found his matchup, another psychopath, the notorious gangster known as Charlie is quite interesting.
Woody Harrelson plays a sensitive and crazy gangster who cares about his dog but will not hesitate to kill innocent people. You need someone crazy to go against crazy and on Marty’s side, you have the actor Sam Rockwell, always known for playing versatile roles, who matches up with Woody Harrelson’s craziness with efficacy.  Especially as these two, will primarily the character of Billy, who seems he must outdo the craziness of Charlie.
As for Hans, his character is rather complex. A quiet religious man, his nature tends to change after the murder of his wife Myra. And you eventually learn more about him and also Billy, as the film continues.
As for the DVD release, first, I must say that this is a beautiful film and if you have a Blu-ray player, it’s definitely worth checking out on Blu-ray. But on DVD, the film does look and sound good, while I felt the special features was quite short at around under three minutes each. So, I wish there were lengthier special features, maybe even an audio commentary.
Overall, “Seven Psychopaths” is unlike any film I have ever seen. A dark comedy which the character Hans would even say “has many layers”, but its the way the film was written and how the characters are presented, it definitely made this film much more satisfying. An original and unique film with a lot of twists along the way, Martin McDonagh’s “Seven Psychopaths” is recommended!
