Writer/Director Martin McDonagh returns with a 1970s-set CIA Dark Comedy, Wild Horse Nine, starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell.
Leave it to writer/director Martin McDonagh to give John Malkovich one of the defining roles of the second half of his career in Wild Horse Nine. A darkly comedic buddy comedy with political overtones that pairs perfectly with McDonagh’s other darkly comedic buddy comedy with political overtones, The Banshees of Inisherin. Like his other work, McDonagh deals with the way that men grapple with the world, their places in it, the time they have left in it.
Chris (Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are no different than Pádraic and Colm (from Banshees) or Ray and Ken (from In Bruges) or Billy and Marty (from Seven Psychopaths). They have spent too much time with one another. They all bicker, disagree, and act more like cantankerous husband and wife than co-workers and friends. What separates Chris and Lee is that they work as CIA contractors in the 1970s in the midst of installing a dictator in Chile.
After plans have been set in motion for the coup d’etat, the men head down to Easter Island for a week. After which Lee will fulfill a very specific request for Chris. Over the course of this particular vacation, each man grapples with not just their places in the world but their own mortal coils and each other. McDonagh’s script hides which is a scathing indictment of US Foreign Policy in the 1970 (and some would say current policies) under the subterfuge of the constant bantering back and forth of these loquacious men.
Malkovich may go down as one of the greatest volley partners in all of acting. His work is always stellar, but none more than when he’s paired with or opposite another truly remarkable actor. From his early work in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun (paired with an equally young Ben Stiller) to his Academy Award-nominated performance against Clint Eastwood in In the Line of Fire to the recent work in Opus with Ayo Edebiri. Most would characterize him as the one of premiere character actor in the world. That title has been a benchmark so long it’s lampooned in the classic Being John Malkovich.
Rockwell, an equally adept chameleon of a character actor, has made a career out of grounding his uniquely bizarre characters in his earthy charm (and a lot of fleet-footed dancing). From the young singer impersonating a safe cracker in Safe Men to his underrated work as game show host and alleged Spy Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to his Academy Award-winning work in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the actor has always brought the same manic perfection to his roles. Like Malkovich, Rockwell has quickly become one of the great character actors of his generation.
Casting Malkovich and Rockwell could have been an unruly proposition even for the most skilled writer/director. It seems to have inspired McDonagh as a writer and director. Malkovich and Rockwell reveal their ability to run circles around each other and anyone else that comes to play with McDonagh’s verbose, exacting script. Malkovich manages to make McDonagh’s words sing the way that only Brendan Gleeson had been able to prior. There is a sense of invention to Malkovich’s performance that makes everything feel so off the cuff and improvisational. The work is a sight to behold, even when matched against someone as mischievous and wily as Rockwell.
Not to be outshined, the supporting cast is uniformly excellent that includes truly wonderful work by Steve Buccemi, Parker Posey, Tom Waits, Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas. The latter two of which play Chilean students that Malkovich’s character constantly confronts, to comedic and dramatic effect. Both di Girolamo and Salas are excellent, going toe to toe with Malkovich and becoming the heart of the film.
The adroit performances are only matched by McDonagh’s exacting, witty script and direction. Wild Horse Nine is the director’s sharpest film to date. As much as Banshees is subtextually about “the troubles” in Ireland, Wild Horse Nine is supertext about America’s violent involvement in other countries disguised as “Foreign Policy”. Though never polemic at any point, the writer/director makes a film that’s at times hilarious, dark, thrilling, and violent about who people choose to be as opposed to who they’ve come to be.
Wild Horse Nine is only in theaters on November 6th.
Writer/Director Martin McDonagh returns with a 1970s-set CIA Dark Comedy, Wild Horse Nine, starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell.
Leave it to writer/director Martin McDonagh to give John Malkovich one of the defining roles of the second half of his career in Wild Horse Nine. A darkly comedic buddy comedy with political overtones that pairs perfectly with McDonagh’s other darkly comedic buddy comedy with political overtones, The Banshees of Inisherin. Like his other work, McDonagh deals with the way that men grapple with the world, their places in it, the time they have left in it.
Chris (Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are no different than Pádraic and Colm (from Banshees) or Ray and Ken (from In Bruges) or Billy and Marty (from Seven Psychopaths). They have spent too much time with one another. They all bicker, disagree, and act more like cantankerous husband and wife than co-workers and friends. What separates Chris and Lee is that they work as CIA contractors in the 1970s in the midst of installing a dictator in Chile.
After plans have been set in motion for the coup d’etat, the men head down to Easter Island for a week. After which Lee will fulfill a very specific request for Chris. Over the course of this particular vacation, each man grapples with not just their places in the world but their own mortal coils and each other. McDonagh’s script hides which is a scathing indictment of US Foreign Policy in the 1970 (and some would say current policies) under the subterfuge of the constant bantering back and forth of these loquacious men.
Malkovich may go down as one of the greatest volley partners in all of acting. His work is always stellar, but none more than when he’s paired with or opposite another truly remarkable actor. From his early work in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun (paired with an equally young Ben Stiller) to his Academy Award-nominated performance against Clint Eastwood in In the Line of Fire to the recent work in Opus with Ayo Edebiri. Most would characterize him as the one of premiere character actor in the world. That title has been a benchmark so long it’s lampooned in the classic Being John Malkovich.
Rockwell, an equally adept chameleon of a character actor, has made a career out of grounding his uniquely bizarre characters in his earthy charm (and a lot of fleet-footed dancing). From the young singer impersonating a safe cracker in Safe Men to his underrated work as game show host and alleged Spy Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind to his Academy Award-winning work in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the actor has always brought the same manic perfection to his roles. Like Malkovich, Rockwell has quickly become one of the great character actors of his generation.
Casting Malkovich and Rockwell could have been an unruly proposition even for the most skilled writer/director. It seems to have inspired McDonagh as a writer and director. Malkovich and Rockwell reveal their ability to run circles around each other and anyone else that comes to play with McDonagh’s verbose, exacting script. Malkovich manages to make McDonagh’s words sing the way that only Brendan Gleeson had been able to prior. There is a sense of invention to Malkovich’s performance that makes everything feel so off the cuff and improvisational. The work is a sight to behold, even when matched against someone as mischievous and wily as Rockwell.
Not to be outshined, the supporting cast is uniformly excellent that includes truly wonderful work by Steve Buccemi, Parker Posey, Tom Waits, Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas. The latter two of which play Chilean students that Malkovich’s character constantly confronts, to comedic and dramatic effect. Both di Girolamo and Salas are excellent, going toe to toe with Malkovich and becoming the heart of the film.
The adroit performances are only matched by McDonagh’s exacting, witty script and direction. Wild Horse Nine is the director’s sharpest film to date. As much as Banshees is subtextually about “the troubles” in Ireland, Wild Horse Nine is supertext about America’s violent involvement in other countries disguised as “Foreign Policy”. Though never polemic at any point, the writer/director makes a film that’s at times hilarious, dark, thrilling, and violent about who people choose to be as opposed to who they’ve come to be.
Wild Horse Nine is only in theaters on November 6th.
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