Rating 7/10
Martin McDonagh writes dialogue I enjoy. Even when I find the bitterness hard to embrace, I can admire his writing. The thing is, his bleak view of humanity comes with a heavy dose of gallows humor. It always keeps me at an emotional distance. Wild Horse Nine is no exception. However, the camaraderie between its two central characters is so palpable. The screenplay excels at two men with a long history together simply talking. It’s his warmest connection since In Bruges.
We begin in Chile shortly before the 1973 coup. The story follows veteran CIA officer Chris Carlisle (John Malkovich) and his protégé, Lee Chesterfield (Sam Rockwell), as they travel from Santiago to Easter Island. They’re acting under the direction of their bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi). Chris has terminal cancer and an increasingly loose tongue. Lee has the unenviable duty of keeping him in check. Against a backdrop of American efforts to undermine Salvador Allende’s government, their excursion becomes an opportunity for old secrets and complicated loyalties to surface. Perhaps the title combines the island’s wild horses with Chris’s room number, nine. The comparison suits a man unwilling to be reined in. The actual purpose of their journey is one best left to discover.
At heart, this is a character study. Chris is a fascinating, but troubling subject. Malkovich finds the humor in his bluntness, although the man is not easy to support. Chris speaks with the abandon of someone who sees little reason to censor himself anymore. Lee attempts to impose some discretion. The entertainment is in that imbalance. One man says whatever crosses his mind; the other must manage the consequences. Their exchanges have the familiarity of people who know each other’s habits all too well.
That shared history provides the tenderness. Beneath Lee’s exasperation is a deep attachment to his mentor, and Rockwell lets that devotion show amid the frustration. Their bond can be surprisingly sweet. Yet the closeness creates a tension I never entirely resolved: Chris is compelling company, but it’s difficult to become emotionally invested in him. His vulnerability complicates our understanding of him, but it does not erase the disturbing implications of his past.
The historical setting gives that past weight, although McDonagh’s mixture of fact and invention sometimes muddies the drama. American interference in Chile is documented fact. Chris’s purported connection to JFK’s assassination belongs to the realm of conspiracy fiction. Folding both into the same biography turns him into a fantastical repository of American wrongdoing. For me, the Kennedy material distracts from the more persuasive questions about responsibility and regret, already present in the Chilean setting.
The supporting cast widens the story in interesting ways beyond the central partnership. Buscemi gives MJ an untrustworthy authority that makes his oversight unsettling. Monica (Mariana di Girolamo) is a college student that Chris befriends, and Alicia (Ailín Salas) is her traveling companion. They introduce perspectives that deepen the encounter. As Lee’s wife, Marge, Parker Posey makes a memorable comic impression in just two telephone conversations.
Nevertheless, Chris and Lee are the reason we stay engaged. Their verbal sparring is so funny. The affection between them is convincing in a richly drawn relationship far more affecting than the surrounding conspiracies. Despite my reservations about McDonagh’s acrid worldview, Wild Horse Nine gave me plenty to appreciate. I enjoyed what these men had to say to each other. They earned my attention, if not my clearance.
11-10-26