Wild Horse Nine

Beautifully written, hilarious and just as smart & profane as you'd hope from Martin McDonagh, WILD HORSE NINE provides John Malkovich his best role in years, with Sam Rockwell and Steve Buscemi brilliantly accompanying his virtuoso performance.

Set in 1973 and opening in Chile, CIA agents Chris (Malkovich) and Lee (Rockwell) are there to destabilize the newly elected President. Their styles are hilariously different. While the two clearly show a close bond forged over previous missions, Lee is a smart ass with some respect for the ever-twisting rules of his Agency and Chris is way past giving two flying f..... well, you get it.

The banter between the two is everything you want from the sharp witted pen of McDonagh who delivers another great film, following some of my favorites of past years, including 2022's "The Banshees of Inisherin", 2017's "Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri" and 2008's "In Bruges".

As a Writer/Director, McDonagh continues to carve out his own territory, serving up offbeat character studies packed with huge laughs, but equal moments of heart and human connection that cut deep. His new film is no exception as we delve deeper into secrets and recent discussions between Chris and Lee.

Malkovich is fantastic, dancing quickly between the lines of fear, anger, brutal honesty and loneliness so deftly that you only see the brilliance of the dance hours after the credits roll.

Steve Buscemi has a classic "Buscemi" role to play as the agents boss MJ, who has a fit when Chris decides he's going to retire and write his memoirs. As Chris spills secrets about long held global conspiracies and the CIA's involvement in them into his handheld recorder, MJ starts to get very worried. Hilarity ensues, especially when Chris decides to open his memoir with hilariously loose meanderings about topics as far removed from spy work as possible.

McDonagh wisely uses Malkovich's voiceover as he dictates his memoir over unfolding scenes, loading up one big laugh after another.

Parker Posey (The White Lotus) is almost unrecognizable in 70's garb and attitude as Lee's ex-wife, whose infidelity delivers a lot of gut punch laughs.

Early in the film, Chris and Lee run into two idealistic students in a Chile airport. They love their new President. Chris's loose lips spill the beans about their job in the country, nicely teeing up what follows. It's not the last time we see those girls, well played by Mariana Di Girolamo as Monica and Ailin Salas as Alicia. Their reactions are everything in that well shot airport scene.

Most of the film takes place on Easter Island, a location so rarely shot on film that it becomes a character all its own. Remote, stunning and littered with the giant heads for which it's famous, I've never seen anything quite like it on film. McDonagh's brilliance in setting his story there pays off repeatedly.

McDonagh's composer of choice (as well as the Cohen Bros for 'Fargo" and many more) Carter Burwell is back and his score is subtle, quiet and pretty perfect, setting the ideal tone alongside the widescreen vistas of Easter Island.

It's not an overstatement to say this is Malkovich's career best performance, and Rockwell matches him, building a palpable connection between the two that delivers beautifully in the film's final, quiet moments.

WILD HORSE NINE is one of the best films of the year, perfectly written and constructed into a unique flavor of political thriller/character study/adult comedy all McDonagh's own. It gets an appreciative A+.