Someone needs to explain to writer-director Martin McDonagh that just about every aspect of his cinematic sensibility is hopelessly dated and better realized elsewhere. Rather than pursue straight-up Tarantinoisms, he wallows in the post-Tarantino frivolity of knock-offs like Two Days in the Valley. Like his superior first feature (In Bruges), Seven Psychopaths wallows in blandly irreverent political incorrectness and cheeky brutality. McDonagh presents these qualities as if they’re a breath of fresh air, seemingly missing the regressive, tiresome familiarity of just about everything onscreen.

While the film’s convoluted, nihilistic cluelessness makes it difficult to feel any good will toward Seven Psychopaths, the film is not without its charms. Whereas Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson get bogged down in caricature, the actors who play their characters relatively straight tend to get the best results, particularly Christopher Walken and Colin Farrell. Walken inexplicably manages to get laughs with just about every line he delivers, whether it’s intended to be funny or not. McDonagh’s cinematic sensibility (he’s a more accomplished playwright) has a long way to go, but he’s clearly found a creative soul mate in Walken.

The film’s somewhat peculiar visual style (saturated colours, high contrast) is perfectly served on Blu-ray. Unfortunately, the filmmakers never really get a chance to defend their film, as this disc is extremely light on extras. All we get are 10 minutes of featurettes, a gag reel, and some deleted scenes.