Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes and Clémence Poésy
Running Time: 107 minutes
Genre: Black comedy/thriller
Martin McDonagh's first feature-length film is an absolute joy. He has crafted a film with such wonderful moments of comedy, tension and upsettingly despairing moments that confound expectations for a film of this supposed genre. In part to the terrific cast, the witty dialogue mixed together so effortlessly with more emotionally challenging scenes make this one of the best darkly comic thrillers I have ever seen.
And what this even more enjoyable to watch is how the film plays with peoples expectations of what they expect with a film of this type. Marketed as a cheeky-comedy (at least to us Irish viewers) and without has moments of subtle and more often-than-not hilarious laugh out loud moments, it is not what makes this film such a joy. Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) play two hit-men dispatched to Bruges to await a new assignment. Not a complicated set-up by any means, but as the plot plays out and we discover how the duo came to be in this situation, it comes as a heartbreakingly bleak and ominous tone, completed by mob boss Harry's (Ralph Fiennes) statement that "he wasn't such a bad kid, was he?". The relationship between Ray and Ken is ever-changing, but there is a clear camaraderie between the two that is tested as the film progresses. For anyone that has read Harold Pinter's "The Dumb Waiter" will see more than a few similarities between the leads, but albeit with expanded backgrounds and different circumstances.
In Bruges is quite simply a wonderful film, with a breathtakingly great score by Carter Burwell to boot. Bruges is a visually stunning city and McDonagh makes the best of the unique environment to create a wonderfully entertaining, but yet far deeper than your ordinary run-of-the-mill crime caper. This film is a must see.
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