Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on November 2013

Tarantino meets Kaufman. Blocked would-be screenwriter Colin Farrell gets involved with LA’s underworld when his loopy friends, professional dognappers Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken, swipe the adored Shih Tsu of vicious crime boss Woody Harrelson. There’s a lot going on in this self-aware, enjoyably demented, expectations-defying and occasionally brutal Hollywood spoof from Martin McDonagh (In Bruges). It’s not so much about telling a story as it is about the frustrations of storytelling. Falls apart in the third act, but absurdly entertaining until then. Also Tom Waits and Harry Dean Stanton. (119 min)