Three Billboards, many critics

I am a lazy consumer of literature, in that I let the critics and award-makers decide what was the best of a given year, and then I check those titles out.  That is how I select many of the books I read, and it's how I select most of the films I see.

In that spirit, we've seen a couple of Oscar-nominated films in the last couple of weeks, including Martin McDonagh's much-praised Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. 
First of all, my recommendation is: if you haven't seen it yet, then try to see it.  It's a very good film - maybe the best new release I've seen in several years.

I consume film criticism backward: first I see the movie, then I read what various critics thought about it.  A site like Rotten Tomatoes is very handy for compiling dozens of reviews.  Why do I do it this way?  I am never completely sure why I do anything, but in this case, I suppose it accomplishes two things: it allows me to form my own views of a work, unencumbered by the influences of the influential; and then it allows me to see where I stand vis a vis the critical consensus.  I fancy myself an independent thinker, but it's good to stay anchored in the culture. 

And regarding consensus: perhaps it is a function of choosing to see films from curated lists, but it seems that there is rarely a lot of divergence of opinion regarding the films I see.  Three Billboards fits the pattern: virtually all of the reviews I have read state that Frances McDormand's performance is riveting, that the story is bleak, filled with grief-fueled anger and even rage, and that there is a good deal of black humor in it.  All that is true.  But I am not completely sure those aspects of the film explain why it makes such a deep impression.

It seemed to me that there is a (very) ambiguous sacrifice in the center of the film.  The Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes, at least those whom I sampled, didn't mention it.  Inasmuch as sacrifice is a religious theme, I wondered whether any of the Catholic critics picked up on it.  I have to say that, based on some website poking around, I'm a little disappointed that, as far as I can tell, neither Commonweal nor America nor Catholic News Service has yet published a review.  I'd be glad to stand corrected on that.

So, casting around for a critic to do some hard thinking on my behalf, I googled "catholic film critic three billboards".  And I came up with this review.  The blog at which it resides, Catholic Stand, is not one I'm familiar with, nor with the critic, Patrick Malone.  I think he spends too much time on the character of the priest, who only appears in one scene, but I admit he wrings a lot more significance out of the character than I would have.  And he takes up the question of sacrifice pretty thoughtfully.  On the whole, I would say it's a pretty decent bit of Catholic criticism.

At any rate: as I say, if you get a chance, see it.