by Nick Ferro, Editor
Every time I see a new Martin McDonagh movie I walk away increasingly in love with his style. While I wasn’t as high on 2022’s The Banshees of Inishsrin, I was still blown away by how much I vibed with his writing and his characters. It certainly helps that his casts are filled, repeatedly, with some of my favorite actors. Despite having only written and directed five feature length films, he always comes to the table with something worthwhile, funny, and with something to say.
Wild Horse Nine is very similar to both Banshees and McDonagh’s earlier film In Bruges, which I love. In many ways they share qualities that some, at a glance, might write off as derivative of each other. All three take place in a place that allows for beautiful sweeping shots of the scenery, in this instance, Easter Island. There are plenty of landmarks to draw attention to for establishing shots. Each movie has an older actor paired with a younger actor with the heart of the movie involving some kind of strain in their relationship. In Wild Horse Nine the relationship between Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) is certainly the core of the film. The friendship between these two CIA agents is one that feels real and lived-in despite knowing very little about them at the start. Also, these movies all share an incredibly well written script with interesting characters and a healthy amount of violence. That is pretty much where the comparisons stop but not your enjoyment.
What sets Wild Horse Nine apart is its exploration into death, the afterlife, and how one lives their life can lead to some pretty heavy contemplation in their later years. Chris is a character who is at the end of a long career doing some pretty terrible things behind the scenes in the name of his government. As the movie progresses the audience learns more about Chris’ past and the missions he was involved in, from the Bay of Pigs to the Kennedy Assassination. But as he talks with other characters, be they Lee or not, he also likes to lie. He made a career of telling lies, so he’s quite good at it and as a result you never know while watching the film if what he says is true or a fabrication. There is a particularly funny story at the beginning regarding how he likes to “mark” the bombs that he makes. Then couple that with the fact that he is slowly losing his memory, to an illness and has become even more unreliable a narrator and you have a very damaged person who is trying to make heads or tails of the life he’s led as he approaches the end.
Lee on the other hand is still young and in his prime (for the most part). He and Chris became friends a long time ago and they have had each other’s backs for just as long. They bicker like husband and wife that only partners who have been through it all can do. Which results in much of this movie’s comedy. The two of them play off each other so well when it comes to the comedy. The set-ups and pay-offs for jokes are amazing thanks to the excellent writing, but then you add in Malkovich’s delivery and Rockwell’s facial reactions (mostly what I would describe as confused exasperation) and you end up with one of the funniest movies I have seen all year.
As amazing as the performances are, the real star of the show is the writing. It is never overly convoluted the way some scripts can be where you have to ask, “Who talks like that?” Instead, it is believable dialogue delivered by two of our greatest actors, who both can go from gravitas to comedic at the drop of a hat. I feel they should both be eyed for awards come the end of the year. From the discussion of a flow chart that takes you from “Gay Countries” to “Good Cheese” to dinosaurs in heaven, or the extracurricular activities of their boss, there is never a dull moment. Rounding out the cast is Steve Buscemi as the local CIA director who provides a very funny supporting role. He doesn’t have a ton of screen time, but he certainly does a lot with a little.
While this movie and McDonagh’s style is typically up my alley, there will be some who may view his deliberately paced, slow burn, conversation movies to be a little too slow for their liking. Which is fair. If you aren’t a fan of movies that meander about the scenery only to stop for a few moments while characters exchange witty remarks then this might not be for you. However, for me this was catnip. Despite not being a career CIA agent who spent years doing evil things in the hopes that it served out the greater good, I still felt a connection with him as he posed the question, “what will happen to me when I die?” It is a question that all people think about at one point or another in their lives. But most people probably didn’t kill for a living. I found the Easter Island setting interesting as a backdrop for Chris’ existential crisis. An ancient civilization leaving behind enigmatic works showing that some creations or acts in life are remembered long after those who enacted them are gone. These “big heads,” as Chris and Lee refer to them, have outlived their creators, but does that mean the things Chris has done in his life will outlive him?
As a CIA agent who is currently on assignment in Chile to destabilize the new democratically elected president, because his rule isn’t profitable for the United States, it isn’t hard to understand why Chris might have some worries. Worries that he expresses to a young woman he meets named Monica (Mariana di Girolamo). In an effort to both selfishly earn a spot in heaven and also make amends for the misdeeds of his life, he tries to help Monica understand what horrors will plague her country in the days to come. What he teaches her and how she reacts to him makes for a very important conversation that can be related to our world. In essence this movie also manages to talk about the corruption of governments and mistakes of the past leading to potential positives for the future. At one point there is a conversation about how something Chris did broke the country (The United States) and the rebuttal of, “it was already broken, but at least people know it now,” could not have been a more powerful statement for me. It hit home in a way that was almost morbidly cathartic.
Wild Horse Nine has everything you want in a McDonagh film. A partnership between two friends. A friendship needing to choose between the job and a promise. Beautiful sweeping vistas. Movie quality film making with gorgeous natural lighting. A horse actor who I feel is a shining example of why we need to start awarding animal performances or trainers for their work in films. Whenever that horse nodded at Malkovich’s questions I swear I believed that the horse understood and was acting right alongside him… but I digress. If you want to hear funny and poignant dialogue, see outstanding performances, and laugh in a theater this year, run, don’t walk to see Wild Horse Nine. I promise you, it will be worth it!
Rating: Loved It
Wild Horse Nine is currently playing in theaters.
You can read more from Nick Ferro, and follow him on Letterboxd