Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Writer-director Martin McDonagh's multi-Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning, darkly comic revenge drama revolves around grieving Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), whose teenage daughter was brutally raped and murdered several months previous when the story opens. The Ebbing Police Department has been unable to nab the killer, so Mildred rents three abandoned billboards on a back road to advertise their ineptitude and complacency, focusing on Sheriff Willoughby (Woody Harrelson), who has been privately agonizing about not having solved the crime and is dying of pancreatic cancer. Launching this outrageously merciless, one-woman crusade, McDormand delivers a formidable, ferociously uncompromising performance that firmly places her on-track for another Oscar. She's adroitly supported by Oscar nominees Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, the latter as Willoughby's moronic, rage-filled deputy. The excellent supporting cast includes Caleb Landry Jones as a local ad-sales agent, Peter Dinklage as a kindly car salesman who courts Mildred, Lucas Hedges as her long-suffering teenage son, and John Hawkes as her abusive ex-husband. Irish playwright-turned-filmmaker McDonagh specializes in juggling comedy and tragedy, here deftly touching on racism and misogyny. Edgy, unpredictable, and at times morbidly funny, this is highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (30 min.), director Martin McDonagh’s Oscar-winning 2004 short “Six Shooter” (27 min.), deleted scenes (7 min.), and a photo gallery. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for this fine multi-Oscar-nominated drama.] (S. Granger)