Shadows on the Wall | Wild Horse Nine

Wild Horse Nine

Review by Rich Cline | MUST SEE

dir-scr Martin McDonagh
prd Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Martin McDonagh, Anita Overland
with John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey, Tom Waits, Mariana Di Girolamo, Ailin Salas, Paola Giannini, Liam Marcy, Samuel Wayt, Morgan Grace Champ
release US/UK 6.Nov.26
26/UK Searchlight 1h58

TORONTO FILM FEST

Is it streaming?

With his bracingly black wit, Martin McDonagh takes a satirical swipe at American foreign policy in this hilariously offbeat buddy comedy set on Easter Island in 1973. The fiercely astute dialog is never dumbed down, so the film hits its target with razor-sharp zingers. It also finds a strongly emotional core in a story of two men in a very dark business who must grapple with their souls.

After plotting the coup to overthrow Chile's government, CIA agents Chris (Malkovich) and Lee (Rockwell) take a break to see the "big heads" on Rapa Nui, both carrying emotional baggage. Unwell, Chris is forgetting things, including that he asked Lee to kill him before the pain gets too bad. And Lee worries about his wife (Posey) back home, who knows something's wrong. Neither of them trusts their boss MJ (Buscemi), who is preoccupied by the idea that Chris is writing his memoirs, including details about CIA operations like the notorious one in Dallas in 1963.

Never rushing, McDonagh lets this unfold through riotously funny conversations, often diverging into amusing sideroads. Increasingly loose-lipped, Chris apologises in advance to two students (Di Girolamo and Salas) on their flight for destabilising their democracy, removing the world's first elected Marxist leader and then kidnapping, torturing and killing students like them. Naturally, his gently matter-of-fact demeanour confuses them. And of course Lee struggles to reply.

Malkovich is magical in these kinds of scenes, mingling kindness, cynicism and the exhaustion of a hitman who has killed too many people. He also becomes fascinating by the wild horses on the island, with one in particular that takes an interest in him. His scenes with Rockwell crackle with unexpected energy, as these two men bicker like either rivals or an old married couple, clearly the only friend either has. Buscemi is wonderfully blustery as the quirky MJ. And Posey and Waits (as Chris' estranged brother) shine in their own unforgettable ways.

Aside from being hugely entertaining and thought-provoking, the film burrows under the skin with its moving resonance, as these two men work out who they can truly trust while facing up to their immorality and mortality. This much more than just a pastiche; it's also a comically astute exploration of how the US has systematically undermined democracies all over the world for decades. So while we're laughing at the film's snappy wordplay, we are also beginning to understand how much this has cost humanity at large.

themes, language, violence 3.Sep.26 vff

R E A D E R R E V I E W S

Still waiting for your comments ... don't be shy.