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After a job goes horribly wrong, hired guns Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) find themselves hiding out together in the quaint medieval town of Bruges, Belgium, while they wait for their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), to give them their next instructions.
Ken is immediately taken in by the beauty of the town, and he drags Ray on every single tourist activity possible, filling him in on historical facts and tidbits as they wander through the streets and float along the canals. But Ray is completely unimpressed. He just wants to go home.
Things finally start to pick up for Ray when he meets Chloe (Clémence Poésy) on the set of a strange Belgian movie. But then Harry’s call comes—and suddenly Ray is forced to face the mistakes that he’s running from.
It’s hard to say what, exactly, In Bruges is. Is it an action movie? Sure. After all, it’s about two hit men—and, naturally, they get into some fights (and even a shoot-out or two). Is it a drama? Kinda. Though Ray’s a pretty entertaining character, he’s also dealing with some pretty heavy stuff. But In Bruges is also a comedy. At times, in fact, it’s absolutely, shockingly hilarious. Maybe it’s because the movie is all over the place—jumping around from action to drama to comedy—that the humor often catches you completely off-guard. The laughs come when you least expect them. And while the humor is often strange and totally inappropriate (one of my favorite scenes, for instance, involves a family of obese American tourists), you just won’t be able to keep yourself from laughing.
Most of those laughs come from Farrell, who’s surprisingly brilliant as Ray. Though I’ve never been especially blown away by Farrell’s past performances (and let’s not even talk about Alexander), he couldn’t be better this time around. His timing is just right, his facial expressions are priceless, and he’s brimming with personality. No matter how coarse and rude his character may be, you’ll love him anyway.
The fact that In Bruges is so funny at times and so heavy at others may throw some viewers off (especially since it doesn’t always flow perfectly), but it only adds to the film’s eccentricity—as does the beautiful, old-fashioned fairy-tale city of Bruges, which makes a perfectly peculiar setting for such an irreverent movie. Writer/director Martin McDonagh does an excellent job of injecting the story with plenty of wit—as well as an extra helping of irony. The dialogue is smart, and the story moves along at a good pace—so there’s never a dull moment.
In Bruges clearly isn’t a film for everyone—but if you have an ironic sense of humor and a strong appreciation for the unusual, you won’t want to miss this irreverently hilarious film.
