In Bruges (2008)

Do really awful people have a strict moral code and deep conscience? I'm going to guess no, but In Bruges suggests writer/director Martin McDonagh might disagree.In Bruges begins with two guys checking into a hotel in Bruges. They have come to wait an unspecified amount of time to speak to someone. They go sightseeing. One man loves Bruges, the other finds it tedious.This is maybe the first third of the movie, which is sometimes amusing but doesn't give you much to hold onto. Then a flurry of things happen and an elaborate, ingenious story kicks in. And that part involves terrible people being shockingly full of scruples.The film is very well acted and generally amusing with some dark and occasionally suspenseful moments, yet I was never fully drawn in. The ingenuity of the story and moral code of the protagonists felt like dramatic devices rather than something that comes from real life experience. A false clever plot and unlikely characters is not inherently unworkable, and I think the problem is less the script than that McDonagh can't quite figure out how to flesh that script with human complexity (something he successfully did in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.")I enjoyed this well enough, but I wouldn't say it's something you should seek out.

Hilarious yet emotionally captivating! Bravo! Not at all what i'd Imagine it to be.

"A great day this has turned out to be. I'm suicidal, me mate tries to kill me, me gun gets nicked and we're still in f-ing Bruges!!!!"Colin Farrell plays Ray, a young Irish hit man who botched his first job and ended up shooting an innocent young boy. He and his partner, the older, more seasoned Ken (Brendan Gleeson), are packed out of London by their overbearing crime boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes, almost unrecognizable with cockney accent and perpetual sneer) to the quiet Belgian tourist town of Bruges. They are to stay in Bruges until they receive further orders from Harry. They are urged to enjoy their time in the city, which Harry remembers from his childhood as being "like a f-ing fairy tale or something."This hilarious, moody, very violent film by writer-director Martin McDonagh is incredibly difficult to characterize. Is it a comedy? An action/heist flick? A downer drama? Hard to say. Whatever it is, it blends elements of all these genres brilliantly, features excellent comic performances by the three leads, and even while you're cracking up, you may find yourself pondering larger questions of death, morality, and purpose-why we are where we are, both physically and spiritually.This is a unique, and uniquely enjoyable film that, with humor, examines the conscience and the part it plays in our lives, our deaths, and, perhaps most poignantly, whatever comes in between. A word of warning: you must have a fairly high toleration for disturbing violence and extremely thick Irish accents.

Quite simply, In Bruges is a consistently hilarious dark comedy accompanied by a wonderful performance from Farrell and satisfactory performances from the supporting cast. Additionally, the film transitions competently between comedic and serious moments, and has a number of appreciated (though not entirely unanticipated) plot twists. In Bruges is undoubtedly funnier than any of McDonagh's more recent work, but lacks the standout moments of Psychopaths.