Of course, you know, spoilers and all…
What an amazing movie. The quirks, the twists, the dysfunction. I bought into all of it. Hell, I grew up in a small town in which I could see all the various scenarios.
If you are offended by foul language, this would not be the movie for you.
Frances McDormand – she was just amazing. No, she was fucking amazing. I have never seen Fargo, here shortly I will remedy that. Woody Harrelson was amazing as well. This may be my favorite role for him.
“You can’t say fuck, piss or cunt.” (pause, then the response) “…or anus…”
I am sitting here, basking in the awesomeness of that movie and trying to pinpoint my favorite scene.
Priests are culpable for joining a gang… wow
It’s called “person of color” torturing now… wow
Get rid of all the vaguely racist cops and then you have three that will hate the fags… wow
The major lesson we should take away from the movie: Your words, in anger, could be the last words a person (even someone you love) may hear. Choose your words, don’t leave things on sour notes.
In the same moment I thought, “I am going to be pissed if it was Willoughby” – I was shown that it was not Wiloughby.
Out of all the people in this movie I thought bad thoughts of, the only one who truly deserved it was Dixon’s mom.
HOLY SHIT THE TWIST!
This was a seriously solid movie. Horrible subject. Amazing movie though.
Watch it. Unless, you know, the word cunt offends you….
Some Interviews and Extra Video:
IMDB Synopsis: A mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter’s murder when they fail to catch the culprit.
Starring:
Trailer:
Additional Movie Info:
It received a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 92% Fresh. It received a Rotten Tomato audience rating of 87% liking it. Average Rating: 4.2/5 with a number of User Ratings: 17,817.
Movie Reviews:
Specs: Release date: 1 December 2017 (USA) / Runtime: 115 minutes / Budget: $15M
IMDB Trivia:
- Frances McDormand was hesitant to take the role when it was offered, but was eventually convinced by her husband, Joel Coen: “Because at the time he gave it to me I was 58… I was concerned that women from this socioeconomic strata did not wait until 38 to have their first child. So we went back and forth and we debated that quite for a while, and then finally my husband said, ‘Just shut up and do it.'”
- There is no town in Missouri named Ebbing. The town where the movie is filmed is actually a small mountain town in western North Carolina called Sylva.
- Woody Harrelson would often use his breaks from shooting to sign autographs and take pictures with locals who had come to watch the filming. During an extended break one day, he played an impromptu guitar performance at the music store next to the police station set.
- Production staff welcomed locals to watch outdoor scenes being filmed at public locations, provided they were not disruptive. Each shooting day, crowds would form to watch the proceedings, often upwards of 100 people. During breaks in shooting, the actors would approach the crowds to sign autographs and take pictures.
- The movie that Dixon’s (Sam Rockwell) mother is watching with Donald Sutherland and “his dead girl” is Don’t Look Now (1973), directed by Nicolas Roeg. This movie was also alluded to in McDonagh’s previous feature film, In Bruges (2008). In this film, Frances McDormand’s character parallels Donald Sutherland’s character in that they both are driven by the guilt and grief of losing their daughter.
- The “deer scene” was filmed with Becca, the White-Tailed Deer at the Western North Carolina Nature Center. Becca’s trainer/caretaker is award-winning singer/songwriter, Ben Wilson.
- Several locations used for shooting were businesses that were repurposed or given facades for use during shooting. Most notably, the Police Department building was a consignment furniture store; the building was rented, crews redressed the interior and exterior, even special effects scenes involving pyrotechnics were filmed, then the building was remodeled to its previous state and returned to the business owners.
- There are several allusions to Don’t Look Now (1973). Not just the storylines of both films being about parents grieving the death of a daughter. The film Dixon’s mother is watching on telly about “the dead girl” is Don’t Look Now; we hear a few brief notes from Pino Donaggio’s score. Red is the key colour in both films: the eponymous billboards are bright red and the agency guy is called Red. Both films have a dwarf, a useless priest and hopeless cops, a nasty fall and a massive knife, children left to play alone by water, a kids’ toy bobbing in water.
- When we first meet Welby in the office he is reading ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’, the short story collection by Flannery O’Connor.
- The three billboards say: “Raped While Dying”, “And Still No Arrests?”, “How Come, Chief Willoughby?”
- One of the comic books that Dixon reads, and has a shirt of, is ‘Incorruptible’. Written by Mark Waid, it tells the story of a villain who is thrust into the role of a hero. This parallels Dixon’s own journey through the film.
Thoughts and Ponderances 
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