CIA agents Chris and Lee face a trust-testing mission from Santiago to Easter Island during 1973 in Chile.
Chuck says:
“Horse” A Touching Examination of Friendship
By Chuck Koplinski
Wild Horse Nine – 4 Stars
Cast: Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, Parker Posey, Steve Busecmi, Ailin Salas, Mariana di Girolamo, and Tom Waits.
Directed and written by Martin McDonagh; produced by Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin and McDonagh.
A Searchlight Pictures release. 118 minutes. Rated R (language, violence) At the AMC Champaign 13 and Savoy 16 IMAX.
Workplace relationships can be tricky. Sometimes personalities clash and it becomes a chore showing up each day, having to rub shoulders with someone who irritates you, or worse, you despise. If you’re lucky, you find a kindred spirit, someone you click and bond with during and because of the work. That happens with particular jobs, those that are so unique you can’t really discuss them with those outside your field. Such is the case with Lee and Chris. They’re CIA agents. They kill people for a living. That’s not really something you can talk about when your wife asks how your day was. Fortunately, they look at their work in the same light and as a result have grown close. However, just how close is being put into question on their new assignment, one that’s going to test their friendship in ways neither one of them wants.
The dynamics of male friendships have been a running theme in the films of Martin McDonagh. “In Bruges” (2008) and “The Banshees of Inisherin” (2022) both focused on their complexity and oft times contradictory nature. His latest, “Wild Horse Nine,” returns to this topic, the result being a poignant examination of the limits of such relationships and how the loyalty of those involved is sometimes tested in unexpected ways.
Lee (Sam Rockwell) has been tasked with an impossible situation. Sent to Chile to foment civil unrest in an effort to destabilize its government, he’s been ordered to then take his partner, Chris (John Malkovich), to Easter Island and kill him. Seems the elder agent has been acting inappropriately and has mentioned writing his memoirs. Afraid of what he might reveal, their boss, MJ (Steve Buscemi), wants Chris silenced, and who better to do the job than the man closest to him.
What MJ doesn’t know is that Chris is waging a losing battle with cancer and he’s asked Lee to kill him. Problem is, he’s suffering from dementia and at times doesn’t remember this request or even where they are or what their mission is. To say that Lee is in a pickle, is a gross understatement.
Without question, “Horse” is the best written film of the year. It’s not simply McDonagh’s dialogue, which is clever, funny, and flows like water running downhill, that stands out, but it’s the oddball topics and narrative devices he employs that make his script exceptional. The pairs’ conversations regarding who they’ll meet in heaven, why certain countries have good cheese and others don’t, what happened to the dinosaurs after they died and whether there were any good nazis are just a few of the subjects covered, all done with a wry sense of irony that drives home the true purpose of these exchanges.
It’s a pure delight listening to Rockwell and Malkovich bandy back and forth during these sequences, each actor at the top of their game, both obviously relishing the material that’s been handed to them. There’s an ease and sense of familiarity between them that creates a sense of genuine intimacy, convincing us Lee and Chris are longtime friends and confidantes, that they love each other in ways they cannot explain and would never be discussed. There are moments when their silence tells us all we need to know about them and their bond.
Malkovich is exceptional. He’s never been more vulnerable or accessible as he is here, the actor striking the correct tone of wry regret throughout, suffused with moments of gallows humor. This poignantly convey Chris’ humanity as well as the sense of fragile peace he’s come to. Razor sharp in one scene, lost and confused in the next, belligerent and childish in others, this the kind of role actors dream of and Malkovich nails every single moment, giving us a sympathetic portrait of an, at times, deplorable man.
Saddled with a more difficult assignment, Rockwell shines as well, driving home Lee’s sense of confusion and moral doubt effectively. The character is more a juggler than a spy here, trying to keep a lid on Chris and his erratic behavior, dealing with MJ’s unreasonable demands and contending with his ex-wife (Parker Posey), whose increasingly frantic phone calls suggest something is amiss back in the states. You can’t help but sympathize with the guy, Rockwell’s innate charm going a long way towards keeping us in his corner.
Touching, funny and very, very smart, “Wild Horse Nine” is one of the year’s best films, ultimately revealing itself as a meditation on regret. Lee’s adherence to the Catholic faith looms large in the film and in his way, he’s trying to make amends for all his many sins. Albeit, he can never fully atone for his actions, but the realization that he has erred and is genuinely sorry for what he’s done counts for something. By the end, he achieves a sense of clarity where his life and what’s he’s done with it is concerned. Chris leaves the viewer with a final piece of advice, we’d all do well to adhere to.
4 Stars
