Wild Horse Nine Review: Martin McDonagh Takes In Bruges to Easter Island
John Malkovich goes for the Oscar (and deserves it)
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There's something appropriate about Wild Horse Nine coming out around the midterm elections, as it's a story about paranoia and the blurry boundaries between brutal honesty and blissful ignorance. It's a movie that, at times, is sad in its discussions of the passage of time, the regrets we accrue, and the questions we ask ourselves about who are the people in our lives that we genuinely trust. If you think that all sounds like director Martin McDonagh's 2008 feature In Bruges, you'd be right.
There's so many commonalities to that feature as to make Wild Horse Nine a prequel (or some type of alternative adventure), albeit with Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich standing in for Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. However, a good idea can still work, and while Wild Horse Nine isn't as emotionally resonant as In Bruges it's still a helluva lot of fun.
Set in 1973, the movie follows CIA operatives Lee and Chris (Rockwell and Malkovich, respectively) after having set in motion a coup in Chile. The pair decide to take a quasi-vacation to Easter Island, wherein Chris hopes to write his memoirs, exposing all the secrets he's held onto in his time at the CIA. With CIA leader MJ (Steve Buscemi) determined for Lee to take Chris out before he can spill everything, the two partners must decide if they trust each other, albeit harboring individual secrets of their own.
It's impossible not to talk about this movie in the context of In Bruges considering their similarities. Both are about hitmen traveling to a more primitive country in order to wait for instructions from the big both. Both characters harbor guilt and individual secrets, with the threat of death as a culmination point hanging over everyone's heads. The only divergence in how McDonagh plays with politics here, bringing in the idea that these two characters are part of a grander conspiracy that has shaped freedom across the globe. Lee and Chris travel to Easter Island in anticipation of a massive coup meant to hit Chile after the election of a democratic president, and questions about the Kennedy assassination looms large; the movie is set two years before the public viewing of the Zapruder film.
The movie is discussion-heavy, with Chris and Lee engaging in discussions about off-beat topics, like the wild horses that populate Easter Island. Chris dictates his memoirs into a tape recorder, starting with a discussion about dinosaurs. All of these things seem like the ravings of a man in the advanced stages of dementia, though it's clear there's a deeper metaphor at play. The theme of Wild Horse Nine, like the horses themselves, focuses on individual freedoms, and how those don't jive with the grander discourse of government control. Chris finds himself drawn to a young Chilean student named Monica (Mariana di Girolamo), whom he precedes to tell secrets to in the hopes of taking her naive idealism and hardening it for her safety.
Rockwell and Malkovich are the headliners that the remaining ensemble cast swirls around. Rockwell's aggression and chronic irritation at Chris's increasingly confused mental state isn't necessarily taxing his acting talent. Rockwell, having been a McDonagh regular, knows the tone and provides levity as the adult in the room. He's constantly reminding Chris to act cool and not tell the entire world they're CIA. Lee's choices devolve into whether he's willing to back his partner or the government, and it's obvious to see where that goes by the end.
Malkovich is already getting Oscar talk for his role here, and that praise is warranted. There is a real Of Mice and Men vibe to Chris and Lee's interactions – and Malkovich having played Steinbeck's Lenny already is impossible to ignore – that is frustrating if you have issues with that source material. Chris may be the tough CIA agent, but Malkovich underscores that with a tenderness and almost child-like wonder to the Easter Island. He may be frustrated at people's use of the word "indigenous," but he also sees the majesty of the wild horse. As he tells Lee, he's drawn to Monica because she represents life as his is ending.
The rest of the cast is solid, though brief in their appearances. Di Girolamo as Monica is supporting player we see the most. She's sweet, with a charming optimism about the future that crashes into Chris's cynicism. Steve Buscemi, as CIA head MJ, plays the role as the standard frustrated boss. The only thing that makes him interesting is a third act reveal that's funny because of a prediction made earlier in the movie. It's odd that Parker Posey is doing so much press and awards appearances for this as her character, Lee's cheating wife Margie, is another Wife on the Phone. We only see her in the stray moments where Lee calls her to check in, and she provides information that spurs him into action back on Easter Island.
Kristen Lopez
There's an anarchic irreverence common to McDonagh's film, but Wild Horse Nine feels like the one that's coasting on what works. The In Bruges comparisons, coupled with the Of Mice and Men story, do make it feel like a retread of what's already worked, both for McDonagh and Malkovich. Malkovich, though, is a superlative actor and Wild Horse Nine reminds audiences of the power he brings when he's on. It's a fun movie, just not McDonagh's best.
Grade: B-
Wild Horse Nine is in theaters now.
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