Politics and poetic profanity collide in Martin McDonagh’s hilarious and heartbreaking Wild Horse Nine.
Two friends, Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell), sit in an airport lounge in Chile in 1973, waiting for a plane to Easter Island for a vacation to see “The Big Heads”. Talk with two young women opposite turns to politics, where Chris tells them to enjoy their left-wing president “while they can”, insinuating an upcoming regime change. “Who are you? The CIA?” the offended women exclaim.
However, that is exactly who they are, and Chris’s loose lips at the airport set alarm bells ringing for section chief MJ (a delightfully snarky, slimy Steve Buscemi), who demands action. Especially when Chris talks about writing his memoirs, which may or may not include details about Dallas and the Kennedy assassination.
During the first act, there were concerns that McDonagh was retracing his steps from In Bruges, with a partner on orders to eliminate his colleague during a holiday for his mistakes in the field. Thankfully, however, he flips the script on that assumption with the reveal that Malkovich’s character is dying from cancer and he has asked Lee to “take him out” at the appropriate time. An additional fly (or moth) in the ointment is that a symptom of his illness is memory loss or mild dementia, and he may or may not remember everything they had agreed on.
McDonagh is no stranger to creating dynamite double acts on screen. He struck gold with Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell in In Bruges and Banshees of Inisherin. Literally, in Farrell’s case, winning Golden Globe awards for both films. And he has worked his magic once again, teaming long-time collaborator and Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell with John Malkovich.
Their odd-couple dynamic produces on-screen chemistry to die for. They convince as bickering partners, and more importantly, as friends. Even if it is almost impossible to truly trust someone in their line of work. Rockwell has proven time and time again that he can nail this kind of role in his sleep, and once again is entertaining, engaging, and empathetic when the weight of what he has to do hits home.
However, as good as Rockwell is, this is Malkovich’s film, and a career-best performance. Do not be surprised if he emerges as the front-runner for Best Actor this awards season. It is a masterclass in being able to move the audience from tears of laughter to tears of sadness in the blink of an eye. Chris Carlyle is a complex character. One who is certainly no saint, but is looking to potentially atone for any sins before he shuffles off this mortal coil, and Malkovich takes us through fifty shades of moral grey on that journey.
It is nigh-on impossible to envision a world where the film does not also secure an Oscar nomination for McDonagh’s original screenplay. And that is because the fantastic ensemble performances come from the quality of the dialogue that they are given to work with. Insults and cursing have rarely sounded this good outside of The Thick of It and In The Loop. The way Malkovich, Rockwell, and Buscemi deliver this expletive-ridden prose feels like a verbal ballet. One in which every dance partner performs to their highest level.
One of the many, many highlights is Malkovich’s hilarious argument about the correlation between a country’s democracy, how gay it is, and how many great cheeses it has produced… Netherlands, he is looking at you!
The strength of the screenplay lies not only in the dialogue, but in its structure and tonal balance. The way it deftly moves from comedy to tragedy, often mid-sentence, is effortless and the mark of an incredibly skilled writer and director. McDonagh wraps this story of friendship and trust in a real-life historical political context that says a lot about where we are in the world right now.
Finally, there is not a wasted character beat or plot point, with everything coming full circle in a tender and taut finale that has several cheer-worthy and fist-pumping moments for audiences. That includes the recurrence of a dwarf playing basketball… no spoilers.
Martin McDonagh is no stranger to Venice. Having had great success here at the festival with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin. His love affair with the city even finds its way into the screenplay – with Chris incredulous that he would have chosen Easter Island as the location of his demise, remarking that he would have much preferred to visit Venice before he died… on a gondola. Well, John Malkovich… you made it to Venice. And while your character might be on the way out, your road to the Oscars has only just begun!
Wild Horse Nine had its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival and is in UK cinemas from November 6
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Director: Martin McDonagh
Stars: John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey
Runtime: 118 minutes
Country: UK/USA/Chile
