Words by JANE CROWTHER
Writer-director Martin McDonagh’s ability to give celebrated actors amusingly potty-mouthed and insulting things to spew in specific places has previously paid awards dividends. After sweeping up the gongs with Three Billboards and The Banshees of Inisherin his latest exploration of friendship via comedic violence and swears is sure to secure a place in the awards season stable – especially for John Malkovich, channelling Dangerous Liaisons waspish disdain and the befuddlement of his alt-persona in Being John Malkovich to delicious effect.
He plays a grizzled CIA agent, Chris, who is stationed in Chile in 1973 and a pain in the ass of bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi). His longtime partner, Lee (Sam Rockwell) is used to his no-filter outbursts – with the duo constantly bickering like an old marriage couple – but as a coup looms the two are sent to Rapa Nui on a break. Chris has always wanted to see ‘the big heads’ and Lee is happy to get his loose-lipped friend away from the exasperated MJ. Looking like two CIA agents trying to blend in (Hawaiian shirts, quirky hats), the duo set off, with Lee cautioning his friend to keep a low profile. That proves difficult for Chris as he tells a pair of students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas) on the same flight that they are spooks and when they arrive at their hotel, shouts insults at a pair of British holidaymakers. Though they are ostensibly on vacation, it becomes apparent that both have secret, personal missions to complete…
Perhaps McDonagh’s fondest look at male relationships, Wild Horse Nine is not only the sort of buddy comedy with a screwball edge that provokes guffaws, it’s loaded with pathos and a reverence for the kind of brutal kindness only a true friend can serve. While it’s an absolute hoot to watch Malkovich go gonzo on anyone and everything – and Rockwell to masticate and placate his way through it – there’s also a genuine thriller at work here (who works for who?) as well as a treatise on euthenasia and what makes a person who they are. Kudos too to Parker Posey, stealing focus over the phone as Marge, Lee’s kaftan-wearing wife, who understands more than he knows; and Tom Waits as a gruff cameo with heart.
It’s probably McDonagh’s most accomplished work and it features a cast at the top of their game. Load onto that the stunning vistas of Rapa Nui – with this production being only the second film to ever film on the island – and Wild Horse Nine (yes, wild stallions do gallop beautifully across the landscape) is a retro, moving and funny piece of perfection. It recalls Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in both the tangible sense of a friendship and the sorrow for a moment passing, while also being a specifically McDonagh film. It’s entirely worthy of the awards buzz on the Venice Lido…
Words by JANE CROWTHER
Images courtesy of SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES
Wild Horse Nine premiered at the 83rd Venice Film Festival