The characters here convey nuances that slowly hint at who they really are. Mildred spends most of her scenes blasting away at anyone she comes across but her brief reaction at a nemesis coughing blood in her face conveys volumes, so does the reaction by Dixon’s bizarre mother to his beat-up face or even his own insistence in protecting the case file at all costs in the middle of a blaze. I can’t recall another film, perhaps since “LA Confidential,” where the nature of the characters and their relationships seem set in stone from the beginning but are progressively revealed to be something entirely different, in a convincing manner.
Regarding the main question brought up by Kermode’s readers, is it wrong to sympathize with Rockwell’s character? I don’t think so. McDonagh doesn’t manipulate the audience into liking any of his characters. He never hides their uglier sides nor how their actions affect those around them. No one here evolves enough to become politically correct, to say the least. And Dixon literally goes through hell and back throughout the movie. When he gets fired, it is as a consequence of his actions. When he gets torched, it is the outcome of extreme bad luck. But when he gets himself beaten to a pulp by a potential suspect, he does it willingly for a greater good. That he becomes an object of sympathy is perhaps the biggest and the best surprise in “Three Billboards,” and one of the reasons why I like it more with each viewing.
For most of its running time, the film entertains an acceptable solution to the murder of Mildred’s daughter. But a change of course makes plenty of sense, as “Three Billboards” is not really a murder mystery flick. Racism is not at its core, but redemption—a kind that’s available for even the most unlikely group of individuals.
I recently watched the latest Academy Award-winner “Green Book” and I can’t help but compare it to “Three Billboards.” “Green Book” portrays its own group of harassing cops as no good, two-dimensional racist in a “road trip” format of what Roger used to call a “Wunza Movie” (one is a prodigious pianist, the other is a bouncer turned bodyguard). I found “Green Book” extremely predictable in the sense than you can easily anticipate its outcome and closing scene well in advance. On the other hand, “Three Billboards” conveys the sense of unpredictability that characterizes real life, one that’s seldom made out of heroes and villains but more often of flawed individuals struggling to do the right thing. “Green Book” may have been the one awarded with the Best Picture Oscar, but, of these two recent Oscar winners, only “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is a great movie.
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