Directed and written by: Martin McDonagh
Starring: John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Mariana di Girolamo, Ailin Salas, Steve Buscemi, and Parker Posey
Runtime: 118 minutes
Gallop, don’t trot to McDonagh’s ‘Wild Horse Nine’, the most enjoyable movie experience of the year (so far)
“We’re the CIA.” – Chris Carlisle (John Malkovich)
“We’re not the CIA.” – Lee Chesterfield (Sam Rockwell)
Chris and Lee have been friendly colleagues and also pals for years, and yes, they are Central Intelligence Agency operatives, despite Lee’s protest after Chris gladly blurts out their chosen line of work to two young women – Monica (Mariana di Girolamo) and Alicia (Ailin Salas) – at the Santiago, Chile airport.
CIA officers should not announce their profession to a pair of strangers in such a location or anywhere, for that matter, but Chris – in his 70s – is not all that concerned about keeping an air of secrecy these days. It’s either due to his willful disregard for proper protocols after many decades on the job or because of recent episodes of forgetfulness that could be a sign of something more dire.
The year is 1973, and Chris and Lee are flying off to Easter Island, a remote but gorgeous locale in the South Pacific, about 2,200 miles west of the Chilean coast, about the same distance between Hawaii and California.
It’s difficult to imagine that CIA operatives are immediately needed on Easter Island, a popular vacation spot with over 100,000 visitors every year, but these spies land on the famous backdrop, known for nearly 1,000 Moai (statues), averaging about 13’ in height, for a purpose of some sort.
Director/writer Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine” places Chris and Lee on an unknown (at first) mission, which is embraced by this pair of A-list actors.
Malkovich and Rockwell soak up McDonagh’s hilarious, clever script, which features a heavily dialogue-driven story for two edgy, dangerous types with the vibes of casual, relaxed buddies. Chris and Lee are accessible, affable, welcoming charmers, but they could also pull out a handgun and fire upon a suspecting baddie or an unsuspecting bystander, if given the order. In this case, their superior, MJ (nicely played by Steve Buscemi), would be that someone.
Hence, McDonagh’s delightful cinematic trademark of combining comedic gold with sudden bursts of violence in his movies - like “In Bruges” (2008), “Seven Psychopaths” (2012), “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017), and “The Banshees of Inisherin” (2022) – gloriously continues with “Wild Horse Nine”.
For this critic, McDonagh’s funniest film is a photo finish between “Wild Horse Nine” and “Seven Psychopaths”, and please don’t make me choose. The difference between the two is that the comedy confidently rests primarily with our two on-screen secretive cops (rather than a large ensemble in “Psychopaths”), as the 118-minute narrative is filled with warm moments and playful (but real) quarrels between the pair.
They chat over past assignments, their number of kills over the years, the pleasures of morphine, and the origins of the Molotov cocktail, to name a few, and the informal but riveting banter keeps our eyes glued to the screen while the stresses of the job, MJ’s frequent demands, and the possibility that they are being followed keep us guessing.
And can Chris trust Lee or vice versa?
Meanwhile, in this soothing paradise, Chris and Lee nicely fall into tourist mode and tread all over the island to view the “big heads.” McDonagh and his longtime cinematographer (since “Seven Psychopaths”) Ben Davis absolutely capture the untouched beauty of the shores and grasslands, and a herd of wild horses might occasionally gallop (or sometimes) stop by.
The stunning opening shots of Easter Island are also reminiscent of Davis and McDonagh’s camerawork in Ireland (in “Inisherin”), and this visual splendor spills into celebrated territory on another island on the opposite side of the world.
The lovely space that surrounds these two government employees still can’t soften their attitudes into politically correct vernacular, as they verbally stamp out a couple of moments to be agreeable with their fellow tourists, and Lee and his wife, Margie (Parker Posey), bicker nearly every second that they converse on the phone as their resentment pours off the screen in buckets.
Squabbles between spouses are a universal in any time, but costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh’s masterful gifts make every character on screen look groovy, out of sight, and “dyn-o-mite” in dazzling threads. Look back at your polaroids from the 70s and compare those photos with the garments in “Wild Horse Nine”, and you’ll swear the difference is night and day.
Well, “Wild Horse Nine” isn’t night and day from McDonagh’s previous movies. This film isn’t a return to form for McDonagh because the man has never been out of form.
The world is a better place when a Martin McDonagh movie hits theatres. Gallop, don’t trot to “Wild Horse Nine”, the most enjoyable movie experience of the year (so far).
Jeff’s ranking
4 / 4 stars
