9. Seven Psychopaths
Nominations deserved: Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Walken One of the best times I had at the movies this year, Seven Psychopaths was a great film and follow-up to the sleeper 2008 hit In Bruges for writer-director Martin McDonagh. It stars Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, and a scene stealing Sam Rockwell, who is one of the most underrated actors working today. Colin Farrell plays struggling screenwriter Marty who inadvertently becomes entangled when his oddball friends Hans and Billy (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell, respectively) kidnap mob boss Charlie's (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu, Bonnie. The film is a riot, plain and simple. Sam Rockwell steals the film while Woody Harrelson and Colin Farrell turn in solid performances and bring the laughs, but it's Christopher Walken that is the heart of the film. It has been a long while since Christopher Walken reminded us why he is such a respected actor, but he does so in Psychopaths with a subtle, endearing performance as a recently widowed man with nothing to lose. He says more by saying less, which seems to be a lost art in Hollywood today. While the talented certainly brought the film to another level, they had to work from Martin McDonagh's subtle script. This is the best "self-aware" screenplay and film since Adaptation and it deserves a lot more recognition than it's getting.