Oscar hopefuls Part 2: Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Shape of Water

Now for part 2 of my Oscar Best Picture nominees reviews.  One of these movies I liked, the other...not so much.

3.  Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri: I disliked this movie pretty much from the beginning, starting with the overly long title.  Who has time to type all of that?  Anyway, this film follows Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand), a mother grieving the death of her teenage daughter, who was raped and burned to death 7 months earlier.  Frustrated by the local police department's lack of action on the case, Mildred rents out 3 billboards on a secluded stretch of road and uses them to criticize the local police chief, Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson).  This begins a dangerous back and forth between Mildred and the police, leading to arrests, beatings, and arson.  It's unclear if it really is the police's fault that the case hasn't been solved, but Mildred is convinced that they are to blame.  And it doesn't help that the entire police force is full of racist and homophobic cops, especially Officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell).  That isn't a Southern stereotype at all, right?  At one point he beats and throws Red Welby (Caleb Landry Jones), the gay owner of the local business that rented the billboards to Mildred, out of a 2nd story window.  Then Mildred burns down the police station, leaving Dixon with serious burns.  How exactly was this supposed to help anyone solve the case?  I mean, her daughter's case file was inside the building (luckily Dixon grabbed it before escaping the fire).

The film is full of general hatred, and characters making threats and screaming at each other.  There is very little discussion about the actual case, which is a shame because I like a good murder mystery.  Peter Dinklage even appears in the movie as James, a local man who blackmails Mildred into going out on a date with him.  All of the characters, even Mildred, belittle him (literally), calling him a midget over and over.  I would think that Dinklage was past the point in his career where he has to take roles like this; he should really fire his agent after being involved in this mess.  The crowd in the theater with me ate this movie up, loving the threats and beatings and fires and general chaos onscreen.  But for me it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth, because none of the characters seemed to have any redeeming qualities and the plot just wasn't very logical.  The ending, in which Mildred and Dixon take a road trip to go kill another rapist, really had me scratching my head.  I would recommend this movie if you're a racist; otherwise, do yourself a favor and skip it.

4.  The Shape of Water: This movie is strange to say the least, but that's a given with director Guillermo del Toro.  The film follows Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins), a mute cleaning woman at a high-security government lab in 1960s Baltimore.  Her best friend and coworker is Zelda (Octavia Spencer), a sassy and talkative black woman.  Zelda talks to Elisa nonstop every night during their overnight shifts, and Elisa listens intently.  One night the two accidentally discover that the lab is housing a large human-like sea creature that was found in the Amazon.  Elisa slowly begins to bond with it, feeding it hard-boiled eggs and teaching it sign language.  Colonel Richard Strickland (Michael Shannon), the gruff manager at the lab, tortures the creature and electrocutes it while Elisa secretly watches.  With the help of Zelda, a Soviet spy working in the lab, and her neighbor and companion Giles (Richard Jenkins), a lonely older man, Elisa eventually helps the creature escape to her apartment, where he lives in her bathtub.  And they fall in love and have human-sea creature sex (really), which was thankfully not fully shown onscreen.  Strickland investigates the creature's disappearance and eventually comes after Elisa and her friends, before the film's (sort of) happy ending. 

The best part of this movie is definitely its distinct visual style.  Hues of blue and green throughout kind of make the viewer feel like they're underwater, even though most of the action onscreen takes place on dry land.  One scene that was underwater, however, when Elisa floods her apartment to keep the creature alive (and add some romance?), was particularly beautiful to watch.  The movie's lighthearted score also added a whimsical touch to this already eccentric movie.  Hawkins also skillfully conveyed her character's emotions without ever speaking a word (except in one brief fantasy sequence); I would put her as a front-runner for the Best Actress Oscar.  Shannon was also strong as the mean government boss-man; he played the character a bit cartoon-ishly, but this movie called for that type of over-the-top performance.  I was a little disappointed that Spencer's character wasn't expanded upon very much beyond being the sassy black sidekick, but still she did the most that she could with her material.  Finally, I did feel that the pacing and tone of the film were a bit off at times.  The plot had some pretty slow stretches; I think that it could have benefited by being edited down another 30 minutes or so.  Also, I wanted the plot to be a little more outside-the-box than it was.  Guillermo del Toro is known for the fantastical plots of his films; this movie was no exception, but I think like it could have taken the fantasy elements to another level.  We already had a sea creature dancing and having sex with a human woman, so there was no need for the rest of the movie to be so logical and set in reality.  I recommend this movie if you like a good off-kilter love story with a fantasy element.