Writer/director Martin McDonagh makes a welcome return with this black comedy, widely tipped for awards success. Shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup they are organising, CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) travel from Santiago to Easter Island for a break. Chris is suffering from terminal cancer and intends to ask Lee to kill him. Meanwhile, their bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi) is worried that Chris will make public the evidence he has of the CIA’s involvement in JFK’s assassination.
Malkovich is an actor with a big reputation still despite his recent performances ranging from phoned-in to downright awful. Thankfully, he’s back to his best here, largely due to McDonagh’s sparkling dialogue and he is more than matched not only by Rockwell and Buscemi but also by Mariana di Girolamo as a Chilean student and Parker Posey as Lee’s drunken wife.
The film is at its best when Lee and Chris are riffing. There is a lot of bickering but their close friendship reveals itself every now and again. The plot itself sags a little though, with a cliched overuse of symbolism using wild horses, and that stops Wild Horse Nine being one of the absolute best of the year.
Rating: 8 out of 10