My review was declined, and I'm baffled

I typed this in yesterday morning for "The Banshees of Inisherin," and I honestly don't know what's wrong with it. Anyone know?

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I never, ever decide whether a movie is good or bad until I have seen it from start to finish. This film, which was richly compelling and innovative for the first two-thirds of the story, is a prime example of why I wait until the end.

Oh yes, I'm aware of the raves here and on Rotten Tomatoes, but sorry. To me, this film took a disastrous turn after the mid-way point and never recovered. As a viewer, I almost felt betrayed.

Why? Because right at the story's outset and on towards the third act, I was completely absorbed, not only by the Colin Farrell/Brendan Gleeson relationship, but by the convincingly breathtaking look of the film. Ireland from 100 years ago never looked more authentic, nor gorgeous.

Writer-director Martin McDonagh presents the two leads as a vivid odd couple with Farrell's happy-go-lucky character being rejected by his long-time best friend, embodied by Gleeson's portrayal of glum snootiness to provide a sharp contrast to Farrell.

Scene after scene kept me engaged with nearly every character unsympathetic. Farrell plays Pádraic with a needy (almost whiny) dynamic that had me waiting for the next bumbling miscalculation he would make to try and win back his compatriot. Gleeson's sour-faced, cynical portrayal of Colm becomes all the more earnest when he threatens to chop off a finger for every time Farrell keeps hounding him. Both actors are simply mesmerizing (until McDonagh bumbles their given material later on).

This "feud" between the central characters is surrounded by quirky characters who are believable but again, unsympathetic. Young Dominic (Barry Keoghan) is even more dimwitted than Pádraic and provides several drunken and sober comedic moments, while his father Peadar (Gary Lydon) injects moments of violence both on and off screen as the story's most malevolent character ... and he's the only cop on the island.

Pádraic's sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon), who lives with Pádraic, serves as an oasis of rationality amid all the emotional conflicts surrounding her. McDonagh's script and Condon's acting had me actually liking the character and rooting for her to get off the island; this environment is not a healthy one for anyone we see on screen and she obviously deserves better than the stagnant chaos there.

So, McDonagh set up this slice-of-life drama and it works - until he sabotages it.

The third act begins with Colm inexplicably murdering Pádraic's beloved pet donkey, albeit by accident, because Pádraic just can't take a hint about leaving Colm alone. Soon after, Pádraic threatens to set fire to Colm's cottage ... and does it. We actually witness this act of pyromania and the burning satisfaction that Pádraic took in this endeavor.

To accomplish these morbid developments in the plot, McDonagh had to turn the two leads into genuine monsters. We now see each one committing an act of genuine barbarism, and not only did I not believe the characters capable of doing such things, it felt to me as though McDonagh had to simply shovel on excessive amounts of mayhem to "darken" the story ... or maybe because he thought it was the only way out at that point ... ?

All of this reminded me of McDonagh's "Three Billboards," another critically acclaimed movie that I personally thought turned to garbage, and for the same reason: it forced dark, unconvincing melodrama into the latter part of the story and ruined it.

Is this a bad movie? No. But it sure as hell made me angrier than the times I've seen a genuinely awful film because I thought the potential for brilliance was there and then wasted.

Oh, and I wasn't aware of that this was an "allegory" for the religious battles and struggles in Ireland until after I saw the movie. But you know what? I'll take a non-allegorical film any day if it just stays on course and doesn't try to hand us any Irish gobshite.