Seven Psychopaths (2012)

A screenwriter who can’t finish his script is the hero of Seven Psychopaths, and by the last act you can tell Martin McDonagh couldn’t finish his either. It keeps stopping to argue with itself about how it should end, which is clever for a scene or two and then just stalls. What keeps it alive is the cast. Sam Rockwell’s Billy is a loose cannon with a golden retriever’s enthusiasm, and he plays every line like he’s about to get away with something. Christopher Walken, as the dog thief in a cravat, is the heart of the thing and gets the best scenes. Woody Harrelson’s gangster loves his Shih Tzu more than anything alive, and that’s the funniest idea in the movie. The women get almost nothing to do, a problem the script points out and never fixes. It made $29.3 million worldwide. A 6.4 because the cast is a riot and the story eats its own tail. $263.98 says you see a fluffy little dog on a leash this week and wonder who it really belongs to.

What works: Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken are a riot together, and the dognapping setup is a great comic engine.

What doesn’t: The movie gets so busy commenting on itself that the last act stalls, and the women in it are barely written at all.

Who it’s for: Fans of In Bruges who don’t mind a messier, more self-aware follow-up.