Seven Psychopaths

Director Martin McDonagh reunites with Colin Farrell for the first time since 2008's cult classic In Bruges and the result is two hours worth of edge-of-your-seat entertainment.  Featuring a brilliant cast and plenty of zany dialogue, Seven Psychopaths is a marvelous homage to the early works of Quentin Tarantino.

Screenwriter Marty Faranan (Colin Farrell, Total Recall) is trying hard to work on the script for his film Seven Psychopaths, but isn't finding much in terms of inspriation.  To remedy his writer's block Marty decides to shadow his friend Billy (Sam Rockwell, Iron Man 2) who, besides being an unemployed actor, runs a dognapping operation with Hans (Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter).  Billy and Hans steal rich folks' prize pooches and then return them a few days later for the reward money.  Their lives quickly become more complicated when they steal a Shih Tzu belonging to high-level gangster Charlie Costello (Woody Harrelson, Zombieland) who will do anything to get his dog back. Finally motivated by the extreme circumstances, Marty just has to stay alive long enough to finish his screenplay.

Personally, this film has become one of my top-ten favorites of all-time and I'm genuinely excited to watch it again soon.  Perhaps the first thing that really struck me while watching Seven Psychopaths was the quirky soundtrack ranging from "Angel of Death" by Hank Williams to "The First Cut Is The Deepest" by P.P. Arnold.  The music is an eccentric collection of tunes that all fit the wacky world of the film.  Rockwell steals the film with his potrayal of the immoral Billy who humorously has no filter between his brain and mouth.  Just as impressive is Walken's turn as Hans where he finally gets to sink his teeth into a role instead of playing a parody character akin to his appearances on Saturday Night Live.  Musician Tom Waits also has a few fun scenes as a psychopath with a pet bunny in his most memorable role since 2006's Wristcutters: A Love Story.
 
Without ruining the story, several subplots piece together in varying layers throughout the film until they form McDonagh's spectacular vision.  Much like In Bruges, this will become a cult classic in a few years and people will look back and wonder why it received such little fanfare.  Besides a few short featurettes, one of the extras on the disc is a trailer made by Adult Swim alumni Jim Tozzi entitled "Seven Psychocats."  As the title suggests, all of the actors are replaced in the trailer by feline thespians.  You haven't lived until you hear Christopher Walken's voice emanating from a cat.  Fans of any of the actors in Seven Psychopaths will want to pick this up for their collection.  Buy this pronto!