Wild Horse Nine

I had the chance to see Martin McDonagh’s new film Wild Horse Nine at the opening night of the Twin Cities Film Festival, and it is one of the best, if not the best film of the year so far. Like many of his other films Wild Horse Nine focuses on two male best friends on a mission while also reconciling with their past and the guilt they carry. John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell are an absolute blast of a pairing to watch. Malkovich plays the unhinged loudmouth that gets the two into trouble and Rockwell is the more grounded (but equally hilarious) parter tasked to keep them out of the self-inflicted trouble. Their chemistry in this is off the charts, seeing them rip the sharp-witted McDonagh dialogue with perfect comedic timing and delivery is the biggest draw to see this film. There are a few moments of Malkovich saying absurd things followed by multiple cutaway shots to Rockwell’s face where he is doing some of the best and funniest reaction acting, I have seen in a long time (well since Olivia Wilde in The Invite). The Malkovich performance turns into something incredible though the more we learn about his character and how he deals with those things. To both the actors and writers’ credit, this film can switch tones on the dime. In the same scene you can go from laughing out loud to feeling sad then guilty and then the punch line comes and you are laughing hard again. It takes a bit before things really start kicking into gear but once it gets to the third act it kicks up the pace to full speed, between scenes of riff between the two leads, that reminded me (somewhat) of the escalation of One Battle After Another, on a smaller scale. This film is very similar, in a lot of ways, to all of McDonagh’s other work, but to me this goes above and beyond all of it. It is funnier, more emotional, more intense, and more of a rollercoaster ride. To me this is the best McDonagh film (without question), and one of the very best films of the year.