In a sentenceMalkovich and Rockwell make entertaining company for men whose excuses deserve considerably less attention
Wild Horse Nine follows Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell), whose abrasive companionship sits at the centre of a crime comedy concerned with violence, regret and political responsibility. Their exchanges mix personal grievances with the larger question of how much sympathy compromised men deserve. Steve Buscemi plays MJ, alongside Mariana di Girolamo as Monica and Ailín Salas as Alicia. Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, the film brings criminal danger and unlikely friendship together, with humour that gives way to melancholy as the men’s moral circumstances come under scrutiny.
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John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell give Martin McDonagh’s abrasive crime comedy its humour and much of its sadness. The political reckoning is less persuasive, but the performances make this worth an evening for those with a taste for uncomfortable laughter.
Wild Horse Nine is worth seeing for John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, with a substantial reservation about how readily it solicits sympathy for its compromised men. Martin McDonagh writes and directs a crime comedy that wants its laughter to coexist with regret and political responsibility. The comedy comes more easily. When the film asks us to reconsider the men supplying it, the performances do more convincing than the writing.
Malkovich plays Chris, and gives the film its strongest reason to persist through the uneven stretches. His caustic humour carries enough vulnerability to suggest something beyond another entertainingly unpleasant man. Buried regret matters here because it complicates the pleasure of his company without making him harmless. The performance holds those competing responses together more securely than the film holds together its personal sadness and its treatment of US foreign policy.
Rockwell’s Lee supplies the other half of a partnership that makes the dialogue worth attending to even when its provocations become familiar. We laughed at the caustic exchanges between Chris and Lee, then grew less comfortable with the sympathy being asked for them. That discomfort is productive when their companionship exposes their failings. It becomes less useful when the pleasure of their exchanges seems to be offered as sufficient reason to forgive them. Rockwell and Malkovich make the friendship persuasive enough for that distinction to matter.
McDonagh’s dialogue remains the chief attraction in the writing: abrasive, lively and capable of admitting melancholy without abandoning the joke. Steve Buscemi, as MJ, contributes a welcome venom that keeps the supporting cast from becoming merely agreeable company. Yet some of the secondary business tips into silliness, and the women receive too little attention. A film asking us to think seriously about these men’s responsibility would benefit from giving people outside their friendship more room.
The credited craft team includes cinematographer Ben Davis, editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, composer Carter Burwell and production designer Denis Schnegg. The clearest reservation concerns the film’s length: at 117 minutes, its unevenness becomes wearing, especially when the banter cannot carry the surrounding material. Nielsen’s editing does not make the whole feel consistently purposeful. The performances maintain our interest through those stretches, but maintaining interest is a modest achievement beside the sharper comedy elsewhere.
Against the demands of a crime comedy, the film fares well: the companionship is entertaining and the humour has teeth. Its larger political ambitions require more complexity than the writing supplies. Historical atrocities cannot be adequately addressed by making the men associated with them amusing, regretful or sad, however skilfully those feelings are played. McDonagh does not entirely evade that problem, but neither does he settle it through the emotional force of the friendship.
There is enough here to recommend, particularly for an appetite already inclined towards abrasive dialogue and morally awkward company. Malkovich gives the melancholy weight, while Rockwell makes the central relationship feel worth the time spent on it. Go for their exchanges; keep a little distance when the film starts asking for absolution.
Most critics welcome Wild Horse Nine as a darkly funny, affecting tragicomedy, with praise centred on John Malkovich’s performance and his chemistry with Sam Rockwell. The reviews repeatedly credit Malkovich with making the character’s cruelty, vulnerability and regret credible, while the pair’s sharp exchanges supply much of the comedy. McDonagh’s dialogue earns broad approval, and many critics find that the shifts from abrasive humour to sadness work.
The spread is wide, however, particularly over the film’s politics and sympathy for compromised men. Some find a serious reckoning with US foreign policy; others see glibness, sentimentality or questions the writing cannot adequately answer. Sight and Sound admires the performances but objects to the treatment of historical atrocities, while The Wrap finds both the redemption and political commentary unconvincing. Even favourable reviews register familiar territory, excessive provocation or underused women. Malkovich remains the clearest point of agreement across the divide.
The review presents the film as an outrageously funny tragicomedy. It singles out John Malkovich’s performance as a tour de force.
Read the full review →Freer finds the film uproariously funny and quietly moving, a glorious visit to McDonagh’s familiar territory. He singles out the electric chemistry and performances of John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell.
Read the full review →Rooney finds the film a memorable, affecting tragicomedy that balances dark humor with deep sadness. He especially praises John Malkovich’s layered performance and the chemistry between Malkovich and Sam Rockwell.
Read the full review →Pettit finds the film philosophical and fun, though less intimate than McDonagh’s earlier work. She particularly praises Malkovich and Rockwell’s chemistry and their ability to deliver the salty dialogue while shifting into melancholy.
Read the full review →Jenkins finds the film entertaining while also offering a grave critique of US foreign policy. He especially praises John Malkovich’s performance and the lively repartee between Malkovich and Sam Rockwell.
Read the full review →Castillo finds the film an entertaining comedy about unlikely camaraderie, though some antics and secondary details become too silly. She singles out Malkovich’s unpredictable performance and the lively dialogue he trades with Rockwell for praise.
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In BrugesAnother McDonagh crime comedy in which companionship complicates the business of violence.
The GuardAbrasive banter and criminal danger, with a policeman who resists good manners.
The American Friend · not reviewed yetFor another uneasy friendship shaped by crime, manipulation and compromised loyalties.
The President's Analyst · not reviewed yetPolitical paranoia played for laughs, with institutions behaving worse than their patients.
Riders of Justice · not reviewed yetDanish revenge comedy that gives damaged men more attention than they expect.
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