No Novice Blues for Mcdonagh

Rating: 8/10 (23 October 2009)

This was Martin Mcdonagh's first full fledged movie as a director, but nowhere in the movie, you will find the "novice" touch. In Bruges is of the crime comedy/satire genre, which Tarantino, Guy Ritchie etc have excelled in. The story is about two British Hit men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) who after successfully completing a job in London are sent to Bruges, Belgium by their boss Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes) until the matter as well as the Hit men cool down. Bruges is a tourist destination of sorts for history lovers because it is a well preserved medieval town. But like many European towns, it is very dull and slow for a young fun loving person which Ray is. He hates the place and curses it to the core, wanting to leave it a.s.a.p. On the other hand, Ken loves the feel of the place and considers it a fairytale town and intends to live there until their boss calls. They meet some people there namely a dwarf/midget American actor, a local drug dealer girl etc who make their life in the place interesting. After a while, Ken gets to know from his boss the exact reason why they are in Bruges and the movie takes a different turn altogether. The plot is very engaging and the dialogues very witty and filled with satire. You never get bored during the course of the movie. The movie has many references to Americans, Canadians, Belgians, Englishmen, Vietnamese, Blacks and even Pakistanis with a tone of racism. But it is not 'On The Face' racist comments like in American History X. It is well capsuled in the garb of satire.
I have watched very few Colin Farrell movies and this surely was his best performance. He has many shades to his character. He is fun loving, aggressive, sometimes even filled with guilt because of his 'small boy killing' mistake in his first assignment. Brendan Gleeson plays a matured role and his conversations with both Farrell and Fiennes are engrossing. Ralph Fiennes ruled the screen in his short but effective role. A special mention to the Bruges local drug dealer girl and Farrell's love interest in the movie. She had one of the best smiles I have seen. A great watch and I recommend it.
Rating : 8/10