“Wild Horse Nine” is as inexplicable as it is brilliant. Leading the pack of Oscar hopefuls with its intensity, dark humor and political savvy in an almost opaquely transparent manner, it bends history so much that it comes out straight. Synopsizing such a chaotic film does it a disservice to the plot twists that come at you from every dimension. Unique? Absolutely. Lingering? Forever. Subversive? Always.
Set in Chile in 1973, it is the eve of the CIA-led coup against the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende. CIA head of station, MJ lounges at an outdoor cafe with two Chilean military officers, their medals and banners reflecting the sun that belongs to them alone. They make no effort at disguising their plans, plans that are an open secret everywhere but the presidential palace that looms close by.
MJ has dispatched two of his operatives, Chris and Lee, to Easter Island, Chilean territory 2,000 miles out to sea. Chris is thrilled, it is a place that has been on the bucket list of this seasoned, super-annuated agent for many years. Actually, it is the end of his list, for reasons that will remain secret for a bit. But I get ahead of myself because I choose to give you very little about the plot points, all of which are present and none of which are evident. Film director Jean-Luc Godard once said that a movie must have a beginning, middle and end, just not necessarily in that order. Writer-director Martin McDonagh has, in his own way, gone one better because “Wild Horse Nine” seems to have neither beginning nor middle and initially is more like an amoeba that drifts over the waves without seeming direction, plot or meaning. Despite unfolding at a pace that is jagged on all its edges, there is a story here, despite, or maybe because of its very shagginess.
Partners for a few years, Chris and Lee are close. Chris, the seasoned CIA veteran, is legendary and a conversation with him is like a walk down memory lane of the CIA’s biggest hits. He was there for the coup in Guatemala, likewise in Indonesia; he was present at Patrice Lumumba’s execution, one that he predicted would delay Africa’s independence but would not stop it. Chris was a witness to and active participant in most of the important CIA assassinations to rid the world of the ever-present communist threat. Chris is the living embodiment of “Regrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do and saw it through without exception.” But in this case, what Chris saw through were covert killings and conspiracies. He knows what’s coming in Chile, but hey, next time don’t elect a commie.
Lee, still the loyal soldier at mid-career, has been Chris’s partner and mentee. He has only six kills to Chris’s 68, but there’s still time. It’s a job. It’s a living. Chris is on the island to see the Big Heads. He’s heard so much about the Big Heads. Lee, not so much. He’s there to humor Chris but also to carry out a job. Chris has been a bit too free and loose with the organization’s upcoming plans for Allende. When asked by a couple of local girls, also on a trip to the island, what brought him to Chile, he states, “We came down here to destabilize your democracy, and it’s going great.” Their shock is met with equal fury by MJ upon learning that Chris is spreading the plans. But, truth be told, everyone already knew them; they were revealed in the ITT papers, a document that had been leaked the year before, detailing the need for the CIA to topple Allende’s government.
And this is where I leave you. The shock and awe and joy, if they are the right words, of this film are how it will go down a path and make a sharp left turn before returning to the path well-traveled, only to veer suddenly again. The characters, from the two girls on vacation, to MJ, Chris and Lee, all the way to Lee’s unstable wife impatiently waiting for his return, are fully developed and almost predictably reactive to the situations they face. Except the situations keep bending and changing shape. What you think you know, you don’t. What you don’t know is clear. That makes as much sense as this disorderly, seemingly aimless film that, in the end, makes perfect sense, wrapped up with a surprising bow yielding a total eclipse of the heart.
McDonagh, a unique voice in film, has once again created indelible characters, fully developed, complex, unlikeable people with vulnerability and sympathy where none is merited. Like his other glorious films, he has taken a time and place that reeks of authenticity while overlaid with the fantastical. All of his films juxtapose beauty with ugly reality, balanced with stories of complicated friendships. At the root, they are buddy movies, usually bromances with very flawed people. His talent for chaotic plotting is unmatched and his directorial skill at getting previously unfathomable performances from even the most seasoned actors is extraordinary. As disjointed as “Wild Horse Nine” seems to be throughout most of its telling, his cerebral directorial editing brings even the most disparate actions together seamlessly. I guarantee it will all make sense but can’t possibly begin to explain how it works or even what happens in front of your eyes. No spoilers here.
Steve Buscemi has a star turn as MJ, the head of the CIA operation in South America. He finds every human nuance in a character without redeeming value. Straightforward, no-nonsense, his MJ is just the boss doing a job and protecting the store. That he’s a murderous CIA agent plotting the overthrow of a democracy is just another day at the office. An almost unrecognizable Parker Posey plays Margie, Lee’s crazed, essentially bonkers wife with a penchant for adultery as a weapon against either her loneliness or her anger at her husband, or maybe both or neither. Her energy is like a buzzing live electrical wire twisting in the wind.
So much rests on the quietly unhinged performance of John Malkovich, sporting a porkpie hat and a beatific expression that belies the viciousness of his profession. Malkovich’s Chris has your head spinning in circles as to who he really is, making it that much more jarring to realize that he’s exactly what he appears to be, an amoral hitman for whom friendship and loyalty transcend his assignments. He needs Lee. He needs to believe in him because Lee is the only anchor to reality he has, may have always had. Sam Rockwell’s Lee is more of a cipher. He seems grounded; he’s straightforward. But the difference is that Chris had been his anchor and now he is a weight that is pulling him down. His dilemma is greater than Chris’s because he is torn between loyalty to his friend, as unhinged as he appears to be, and loyalty to the job he committed to that seems now to be committing him.
McDonagh’s screenplay is vintage McDonagh, Shakespearean in its premise of “what a piece of work is man.” And the answer isn’t “noble in reason.” Well versed in history, he has us caught in a whirlwind of conspiracy theories, all with substantial underpinnings and all intersecting in this play of non sequiturs that segue perfectly into a pow finish. Looking back on all of his previous films, from “In Bruges” to “The Banshees of Inisherin” and finally to “Wild Horse Nine,” they are all about the impossibility, immutability and undying need of friendship. I’d follow McDonagh anywhere and “Wild Horse Nine” is the latest indispensable rabbit hole.
Opening Nov. 6 at the AMC Century 15, the AMC Grove 14 and the Culver Theater.
Neely Swanson spent most of her professional career in the television industry, almost all of it working for David E. Kelley. In her last full-time position as Executive Vice President of Development, she reviewed writer submissions and targeted content for adaptation. As she has often said, she did book reports for a living. For several years she was a freelance writer for “Written By,” the magazine of the WGA West, and was adjunct faculty at USC in the writing division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Neely has been writing film and television reviews for the “Easy Reader” for more than 10 years. Her past reviews can be read on Rotten Tomatoes where she is a tomatometer-approved critic.
