Martin McDonoagh is known for the feel-good movies of the year!
Said no one ever. Is that how it works? I’m old.
Anyway, even though he tends to have a very dour vision of the world we live in, he does it in a way that serves his audiences a hearty meal of a film that does not leave any form of regret as they leave the theater. Not in the way the American version of The Office does, but in a way that is grittier yet more satisfying, and that is no exception with his latest offering in Wild Horse Nine.
I was already in when I found out the leads would be two of my personal favorites in John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, but then add Steve Buscemi and Parker Posey to the mix, and this was just going to be too big to fail. Rockwell and Malkovich play two CIA operatives who have just “been present” for the early 1970s upheaval in Chile and have chosen to take a vacation on Easter Island. Malkovich’s Chris is pondering the end of his career while dragging Rockwell’s Lee with him on this journey of self-discovery and the ponderance of life and existence. With their world coming down around them under the watchful eye of their boss, MJ (Buscemi), who really has no love lost for Chris. And that’s really where I have to leave it, but there is SO much more going on here.
One of the things I truly love about McDonagh is how minimalist his films tend to be. He understands how important storytelling is and treats it like the best version of what can only be compared to a seven-layer dip: the top layer is still great, but you just can’t wait to get deeper into the bowl for a flavor profile that is simply everything you want it to be. With a cast this rich (which he is used to with stuff like In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), he weaves this script in and out of insanity and chaos like the greatest of stunt drivers navigating Lombard Street. The dialogue is sharp, the action doesn’t overpower the story, and the performances are just that good.
Are there historical inaccuracies? Maybe, but that’s not the reason one buys a ticket to a film like Wild Horse Nine. Working itself around major events of its time with a story that might as well be from an agent’s secret memoir of their time spent with one of the world’s top spy agencies, this is one that should not be missed by anyone old enough to handle the adult material (it’s “R” for a reason, kids) and/or old enough to remember the time that it is set in. Or to sum it up as the kids with the clothes and the hair like to say, “Bruh,,,”