In Bruges (2008)
Martin McDonagh
102 min

All the way down to its quirky deadpan dialogue, haunting piano score, interrupted budding romances and chase/shootout scene climax, In Bruges has all the surface familiarity of an ordinary noir/gangster film. Beneath that is something quiet and spectacular.

Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) play hitmen in hiding after Ray accidentally murks a little boy on his first contract job. Stuck in the quaint little town of Bruges in Belgium, Ken indulges in its history while Ray broods in boredom.

For the first 25-30 minutes, the film goes philosophical with occasional flashes of unexpected humor. In a museum scene, they ponder violent images in purgatory paintings. Fitting, as Bruges is a sort of purgatory as they await further instructions from their asshole boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes).

From the moment Harry instructs Ken to kill Ray, a suspenseful inevitability begins to play out leading to a rewarding end. Bit players (a bunch of fat Americans, an uptight Canadian couple, and a bumbling skinhead) who make cameos in earlier scenes turn out to play a major roles in Ray and Ken’s fate. Where other filmmakers have made whole movies around this tired, novel “everybody is connected” theme, writer/director Martin McDonagh integrates this device delicately, allowing the characters to drive the story.

Farrell, Gleeson and Fiennes’ interactions alone make In Bruges a worthwhile watch, but the town of Bruges, now made forever infamous by the title and film itself, almost deserves a starring credit. As much as they argue over whether or not Bruges is a shithole, I found myself wanting to visit it one day.

Some people will decry some of the characters racist comments. I say we need to see more of this shit, mostly because I’m sure it happens frequently among all-white groups of people (I have my sources) and the rest of us need to see what they really think of us.

I’ll say it the way Harry would have: In Bruges is a fucking breath of fresh fucking air in a year stacked to the fucking sky with fucking blockbusters and hot fucking garbage. And an impressive debut for McDonagh.