Movie Review: 'In Bruges' (2008)

“This place is rubbish.”

That’s one of the countless insults uttered by Colin Farrell against the poor town of Bruges in the violent crime comedy, In Bruges.

Two assassins, Ray (Farrell) and Ken (played by Brenden Gleeson), get stuck in the town of Bruges, in Belgium, as they await further instructions from their ringleader, Harry, who is played fantastically by Ralph Fiennes.

The two men think they are being hidden away following a botched assassination attempt, but they slowly come to realize that they may be in Bruges on another job.

While in Bruges, Farrell is beside himself with boredom, yet Gleeson is all about seeing the sights, the architecture and history of the town. Ferrell would rather be anywhere else in the WORLD but Bruges and doesn’t hold back on the insults and comments.

“If I’d grown up on a farm and was retarded, Bruges might impress me, but I didn’t, so it doesn’t.”

In Bruges has some very violent, graphic and bloody scenes, but it’s also one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a long time. If you are a fan of the movies Snatch, or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, you will probably enjoy this film immensely. It has that same Irish sense of humor, that accent which I find so appealing.

I watched it with a group of about six people and the entire row burst out laughing on too many occasions to count. Ferrell is brilliantly funny and gives a startling good performance as a guy torn apart by a mistake he made on a previous job. He see-saws between killer and repentant soul with such conviction you cannot help but feel for the guy.

It’s not exactly like the Guy Ritchie movies I mentioned above, which feature multiple storylines, but writer/director Martin McDonagh weaves his own plot that comes together in beautiful fashion at the end.

The one thing I enjoyed about the film was not knowing Fiennes was in it until he slams a phone down and breaks it into a million pieces. You don’t see him for the first half of the movie, but his presence later on is superb and a far cry from the work he’s done in the English Patient, Harry Potter and The Constant Gardner.

Gleeson himself is also very good here in a supporting role and the rapport he has with Ferrell is perfect.

Once again I seem to agree with the tastes of Richard Roeper, who has called it his favorite film of the year so far. I have to agree. While I loved The Bank Job a great deal, this had an added element of humor which takes it to another level.

And if you do see the film and want to read a cool little theory I found on it, check out this thread on IMDB…it casts an interesting light on what perhaps we could have been seeing and not even have realized it.

In Bruges is currently out in limited release, so we had to travel a bit to see it. No clue when it is going wide, or if it ever will. But if you can, check it out.

Mike’s Rating: 9 out of 10