War on Everyone
Dir: John Michael McDonagh
2016
**
After only two films John
Michael McDonagh became a director to look out for, I love his films, they're
unique, striking, honest and something the film industry needs a bit more of.
However, I feel he's stumbled somewhat with his third venture. I don't know if
it was the move to unfamiliar surroundings or not, it certainly didn't do his
brother any favours when he (Martin McDonagh) went from the brilliant In
Bruges to the not so brilliant Seven Psychopaths. That said, it's not all his
fault, as director he has to take full responsibility but the performances
weren't great, and neither was the casting. I have no issue with Michael
Peña, I remain a loyal fan of his but Alexander Skarsgård just didn't suit
the role. I like dark humour and I liked much of the dark humour in this film
but at times it came close to crossing the line, quite unnecessarily and
it was hardly ever that funny. I couldn't tell whether the Islamic jokes were
there because they are topical or if they were attempts at droll satire aimed
at the current spate of Islamophobia, I suspect they were (I hope they were!)
but when attempting such things you need to make it clear. Satire isn't
something you can get mostly right, it is something you have to get
exactly right, otherwise it doesn't work and you can't call it satire -
sparkling wine made outside of Champagne is just sparkling wine. If War on Everyone were a sparkling wine it would be flat
and too alcoholic to enjoy. It almost feels aggressive, antagonistic, out to
prove something the viewer is never made aware of. I liked the deconstruction
of the typical 'buddy-cop' movie, the fact they do next to no police work and
get away with it for example, but surely the duo need to have a convincing
friendship and a lively chemistry? The performances don't portray this and
neither does the script. Theo James looks good in colourful clothes and can
play it straight but it doesn't make him a particularly impressive or
fearsome villain. He was a better bad guy in The Inbetweeners. The character
development is fairly non-existent, it is the under-used supporting characters
that are the film's highlight. Caleb Landry Jones is great as Birdwell, a
fairly androgynous deviant who raises more questions than the film put
together, and Malcolm Barrett and David Wilmot are great as Reggie
and Pádraic Power, a couple of unlikely small time partners in
crime. All the laughs come from David Wilmot, it is where
McDonagh's comedic writing talents lay and I don't know why he didn't make
better use of it. By no means am I suggesting a director of enormous talent
like McDonagh shouldn't try new things, I just don't
think they should try to be something they're not, which seems to be the case
here. You could say it was original but I would argue that there is a reason
for that; it's disjointed, detached, awkward, unengaging,
and charmless. Poorly conceived at best.
