The latest from writer Martin McDonagh is ‘Wild Horse Nine’. Another obtuse titled film along with ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, and ‘Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Misssouri’ that must have had the studio pleading for a more audience friendly title but, ‘Two CIA Operatives in Chile in 1973’ is perhaps a bit too on the nose. But those two CIA operative here are the aging world weary and decades in service Chris (John Malkovich) and his fellow op Lee (Sam Rockwell) far younger but effectively Chris’ carer when they go off to Rapa Nui ( Easter Island in 1973 talk) before one last job. It’s at Chris’s behest because he is dying, living one day to the next on morphine and no longer caring about keeping state secrets of which one pertains to a certain event in Dallas 1963.
Where Wild Horse Nine takes them…
So little does he care about keeping state secrets that as the waiting to fly out to the island he wilfully reveals to a pair of left wing female students they shouldn’t expect the newly elected Chilean leader Salvador Allande to be in power for much longer bidding the pair a goodbye adding, ‘Enjoy him while you can ladies’ and its likely to end up in a memoir he is dictating into a tape. All of this has come to the notice of their CIA handler MJ (Steve Buscemi) and as Chris becomes ever more vocal and laissez-faire in his loose lipped talk its clear to MJ that something must be done.
See it?
Like ‘In Bruges’ and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, Wild Horse Nine continues Martin McDonagh fascination with the consequences of violent acts, pairs of men – one older one younger, shooting the breeze talking about anything and everything in the writer’s droll and often hilarious style that takes in topics of World cheeses to countries you can’t spell to the use of the word, ‘indigenous’ that all serves as a distraction from the melancholy darkness at the heart of Chris’s predicament as he approaches his own imminent death. To that end the dialogue is very funny and McDonagh’s dialogue is as on point as it always is – even managing to reference another writer of witty small talk, Tarantino’s ‘Reservoir Dogs’ which sees Buscemi reiterate his line, ‘Put your guns down. How about we all act professional?’
All three men sparkle but it’s Malkovich who really shines and should rightly see nominations if not awards coming his way having not been Oscar nominated for over twenty years. Like all of McDonagh’s script the banter is brilliant and here drives the film towards a melancholy and poignant ending that’s underlined by one of the Rolling Stones great under rated songs, ‘Baby, you’re out of time’.
related feature : We take a look at ‘In Bruges’ out on BLU-RAY
related feature : Joe McGann & Mike Clarke on Semolina Pilchard | The new Liverpool based British crime comedy
Here’s the trailer…..
