10 Most Underrated Movies Of 2017 (So Far)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 57%

There's an arrogance to War on Everyone that many are sure to find off-putting, and you can almost understand why the reviews mostly fell on the negative side - it's a film that does leave you with an unpleasant aftertaste. But that's an almost, because ultimately there is too much good in this movie to write it off.

The plot concerns two New Mexico cops, played by Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Pena, who give new meaning to the word "corrupt" - they'll do anything to get the results that they want, and it's a blast watching them go back and forth with John Michael McDonagh's trademark dialogue. The movie has clearly been made with a sort of '70s aesthetic in mind, whilst there's a sense that McDonagh set out to make a movie that was as cynical as possible - almost as if he'd been dared to do it, even.

What's odd about the way the critics reacted to War on Everyone, however, is that very few seemed to take pleasure its in misanthropic characters. Odd, considering that they're so much fun to watch even when they're doing terrible things - and McDonagh has no qualms about driving up the antics to ridiculous heights whilst throwing in bouts of the philosophical whenever he feels like it.

It's almost as if, at times, McDonagh's intent when making War on Everything was to ridicule the genre (and perhaps cinema in general) outright, and it's interesting to sit back and watch as the director throws in empty aesthetic gestures - like an upside-down car chase - for no reason other than "Why the hell not?"

Is this a razor-sharp parody of police brutality, or a genre throwback that thrives on its ability to cross the line again and again? Ignore the critics: the film's inherent weirdness, quirky wordplay, and the rampant buddy chemistry makes it well worth your time. An underrated, demented romp.