Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Welcome to The Ahn Bros's movie review discussion. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

Chad: Okay, so, this movie we're reviewing is called Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Alright, so let's start with your feelings when you left that theater.

Alex: It was fun. I liked it a lot. But I don't know if it was the greatest movie out there, or even of this year.

C: I'd have to agree with you. It's definitely a fun movie. It's definitely one of those movies that have you on the edge of your seat. You're rooting for Mildred, the tough protagonist who lost her daughter, even though you know the character is not a good person. I know some people had an issue with the main character being portrayed as being kind of a bitch, and she admits it when her son calls her that. Remember that scene? Mildred is sort of a bad person, but still you pull for her. And it's definitely, from what I've seen, more entertaining than Lady Bird. Not exactly a better film, but more entertaining.

A: No, yeah, I'd agree with that 100%, but I wouldn't go as far to say that Mildred is a bad person. She does bad things, but she's not a bad person.

C: Yeah, that's good.

A: If she was a bad person, then she wouldn't make a very good protagonist.

C: Right, right. That's a good point.

So what'd you think about the other characters?

A: Well obviously, the one who stands out would be Dixon, the hotheaded cop.

C: It almost felt like the second half was all about Dixon. It became Dixon's movie almost. I felt like the shift there was a little too much.

A: Yeah, the shift was too much for me too.

C: It was almost like a completely different movie.

A: Are we going into spoilers?

C: Sure, we'll say spoilers.

A: Yeah, so basically the first half of the movie would be before Woody Harrelson's character, Chief Willoughby, commits suicide, and the second half starts from there. When Dixon receives the note from Chief Willoughby, he does a 180. I feel like that was a little too much.

C: I'd have to disagree. I think it worked. Dixon did a lot of bad things, he was hot headed, but once he got that message from Chief Willoughby after he committed suicide, it really left an impact on him. Because Chief Willoughby was the one guy who believed in him. Willoughby left him that message saying that he could make it in life as long as he cooled down. It really left an impact on him. So the 180 wasn't too much. When he went to the hospital after he got burnt and he saw Red, who he threw out the window earlier in the movie, I think that was a really big turning point for him.

A: So that shows that the character makes a change, but I'm saying that the change is unbelievable.

C: It's a two hour movie. Unbelievable to you maybe.

A: But his change didn't start at the beginning of the two hours. And also, the message from the chief was not just be calm, it was also fill yourself with love. Love everyone. And I'm pretty sure this guy, going around beating Black people and throwing Red out the window; I don't think someone like him can fill his life with love in one day.

C: Yeah, okay, I see what you're saying. But it's not a huge plot hole. It's not like Star Wars.

A: Yeah, it's definitely not some huge plot hole of some love interest coming out of no where.

C: Okay, enough about the characters. What about the actors? Frances McDormand is nominated for Best Actress. Do you think she has a shot at winning?

A: She definitely has a shot, but I don't know. Her performance wasn't very special to me.

C: I completely disagree. She was like the female Clint Eastwood. She was so badass and so gruff, that you could call Clint Eastwood the male Frances McDormand.

A: You can say that if you want. She's like a more rugged Meryl Streep. That's how I would describe her. If Meryl Streep's not winning this year, then I don't think this woman deserves to win.

C: I think Frances McDormand is more like the peak of Clint Eastwood, not the current Eastwood making that shitty real heroes movie.

A: Oh, I just said that Meryl Streep comment without even knowing that Meryl Streep was also nominated.

C: Yeah, she's nominated for The Post.

A: If Meryl Streep wasn't even nominated then this woman shouldn't win.

She was good, but I don't think she was amazing.

C: Oh shit.

A: She didn't make me feel emotion. Especially in that scene where the deer comes out, or the doe. When she's talking to the doe, it's supposed to be a very emotional scene. But it didn't do anything for me.

C: To be honest, the reason why is probably because the CGI was terrible.

A: The CGI was pretty bad.

C: And you could tell that the deer was fake.

A: I don't know why they couldn't get a real deer.

C: It kind of looked like it was out of place, that it didn't fit there. So maybe that kind of affected the emotional impact of that scene.

A: Yeah, for sure.

C: I think they could've done better with that scene. They did pretty well with all the other effects.

Anyways, how about Woody Harrelson being nominated for Best Supporting Actor? He came a long way from Cheers. Goofy Cheers boy, now playing a chief in Missouri who has cancer and ends up committing suicide, leaving his family and daughters. That's pretty heavy stuff.

A: Again, he has a good chance of winning, but I didn't really like him that much in this movie. Mainly because I feel like if he wins, it's only going to be because of his character and not because of his performance.

C: You could say that for a lot of Oscar nominations, right?

A: True, the character helps, but it's the performance that's supposed to win you the award.

C: I would have to say I don't think he's going to win, because it's Woody Harrelson playing Woody Harrelson.

How about the other guy then, the guy that played Dixon, Sam Rockwell?

A: I think he's going to win.

Supporting?

C: Yeah, he's also nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

A: Yeah, he's going to win. If it's between him and Woody Harrelson.

C: But it's not between him and Woody Harrelson. You're saying he's the better choice.

A: I'm not saying they're the only two. They're two from the same movie.

C: What about about his performance made you think that?

A: Because this guy, he made me really hate his character, or not really hate, but dislike the type of person he was in the first half of the movie.

C: The typical stereotypes of being a southern white boy?

A: Yeah, and you're like, oh yeah, this is how it is.

C: But you see that there's more to him.

A: Yeah, there's more to him. The whole part where I don't like how his character's attitude goes 180 is not really part of the performance, right? It's part of the writing.

C: Yeah, sure.

A: The performance itself is really good. Even after the fire from the station, you can see just in his eyes how much he changes.

C: I would have to agree with that.

The one reason why I said that Three Billboards was a lot more entertaining than Lady Bird, is because Lady Bird also has that second genre of comedy, but I feel like this movie had a lot more better situational comedy.

A: That's true, but I wouldn't say that's the reason why this movie is better than Lady Bird.

C: I said that's a reason why it's more entertaining. The comedy works a lot better.

A: Yeah, the comedy works a lot better, but that's one of the reasons why I don't think this movie is going to win Best Picture, because there's too much of this dark comedy.

C: That's not one of the Oscar checklist.

A: It just didn't work that well. I feel like there's too much. Every other scene has something happening that forces the audience to laugh.

It was funny. But I don't know if that was really appropriate.

C: I thought it worked, I liked the comedy. I like her (Mildred).

A: Yeah, I liked it.

C: I like her going off and kicking kids in the groin.

A: That was like, one of those really dumb movies, something they would do.

C: Oh, like Dumb and Dumber?

A: Like Superbad or some stupid shit like that.

C: I guess I could see how kid groin kicking is kind of out of place. Maybe that's why it was funny. You're laughing because of the absurdity of it? Like, what? What's going on?

A: It was a little unnecessary.

C: How about that scene where she goes into the police office and calls out, "Hey dipshit" and the guy answers, "huh, what?" And the other guy, the sergeant is saying, "Don't respond to that."

A: Yeah, the desk sergeant, "Don't let them call you that. Especially inside the station."

C: That was funny.

One of the things I had a problem with... well a lot of other people had a problem with is the racial aspect. A lot of the movies that were nominated have some kind of racial issue, or gender issue, or something. This movie had, what, two Black characters? And they were both pretty much model citizens. No, three Black characters, and they were all good people, they didn't have anything wrong with them, besides the woman smoking pot. But that's it, right?

A: Yeah.

C: All the white characters were three-dimensional. They all had their issues: dark side, light side. Black characters were all just light side.

A: Yeah, I agree. The thing is, the story wasn't about them though.

C: Yeah, that's the thing. The story wasn't about them. I'm pretty sure if they wanted to dive into them they would have a little more for them, but it wasn't a story about race. It's a story about a mom trying to seek peace about her daughter being raped and killed.

A: Yeah, it's not a story about race. Who's saying it is?

C: I'm not. But this is America.

A: Okay, if you want to talk about race, then don't just talk about the Black guys. Talk about the Mexican people.

C: Ah yeah, they totally shitted on the Mexican characters.

A: Like the "portly Mexican deliveryman." Okay, way to stereotype.

C: The movie did have a lot of stereotypes.

A: The white cop goes up to the Mexican people putting up the billboards, but they can't speak English, of course. They direct him to the Black man over there who can.

It's not a movie about race.

C: No, yeah, it's not a movie about race.

A: If you want to watch a movie about race, then watch Get Out.

C: It's a movie kind of about revenge. A little bit of revenge. A little bit of misplaced revenge.

A: Yeah, revenge.

C: What do you think about the ending? For the typical American viewer, it's probably not a satisfying ending. I think that's why a lot of people were turned off by this movie. They say, "Oh yeah, it's a good movie," but they weren't satisfied, because Americans want that happy ending satisfaction.

A: Actually, I take back what I said earlier, when you said that the movie is about revenge and I agreed. It's not so much about revenge, it's about frustration. So Mildred, the mother, is frustrated that no one has been caught for this crime. And she's taking it out on the police, even though she knows they're not the bad guys. She even has a good relationship with the chief; even after he dies, there's a nice little thing going on between them. So I think it's more about frustration.

C: And I'm pretty sure the chief was frustrated that he couldn't solve the crime before he died. And the chief's death leaves Dixon frustrated.

A: That frustration carries on to the end of the movie, where it leaves the audience kind of frustrated because they don't get to see what happens. It's left open. First of all, are they going to go and find this guy? And if they do, are they going to kill him? And second of all, are they ever going to find the real killer of Mildred's daughter?

C: The characters are frustrated, the audience are frustrated, but is that a good thing to make the audience feel? Frustrated when you're watching a movie? Do you want to pay $15 dollars to go watch a movie and leave feeling frustrated?

A: No, obviously not, but at the same time, I don't think I had a problem with the ending. People put too much focus, too much emphasis on how a movie ends. That shouldn't ruin the rest of the viewing experience.

C: So what would you rate the movie?

A: I give it a 3.5/5.

C: Any thought process behind that?

A: That's above average, it's an above average movie. But while you're watching it, from beginning to end, there's that feeling where... it's just missing something. It's missing a little more... suspense? And it has too much black comedy. It's in every other scene.

C: Maybe that's just not your type of humor?

A: No, I like that kind of humor, but I think it took a lot away from the story.

C: So, is this the kind of movie that you'd recommend to your friends?

A: Yeah, I think you should still watch it.

3.5 is not bad.

C: No, 3.5 is not bad. I would also give it a 3.5/5.

A: Okay then.

C: So our rating for this movie, Three Billboards, is 3.5/5. It's not a bad movie.

A: 3.5 billboards.

C: Ohhh, 3.5 billboards.

Chad: 3.5

Alex: 3.5