A Crisp Thriller

Rating: 10/10 (2 February 2010)

Imagine Christmas in a medieval European town, complete with cathedrals, graceful swans gently gliding along on a river – "a fairyland" – as one character describes the setting for In Bruges, a film starring Colin Farrell, Bredan Gleeson, and Joseph Fiennes. Yet before we get too comfortable with the view, don't forget we're talking about a Colin Farrell movie here. The fairyland setting begins to ring false almost from the moment our two mismatched characters, Ken and Ray, stumble into Bruges, a quaint little town in Belgium.
Ken and Ray have been abruptly ordered by their boss, Harry, to lay low in Bruges, following a routine hit gone very wrong for two weeks. As the boys settle into their hotel, sharing a room instead of being in separate rooms, even we get the hint that nothing will be going quite the way either of them wants.
I must say that Colin Farrell's raw-ready portrayal of a tightly wound, would-be hit man, gives me renewed faith in his talents and his current career choices. (Apparently, so did the Golden Globes 2009!) As a man running from his boss, his past misdeeds, and his failed life, Farrell's performance commands us to feel more deeply for Ray than he may actually feel for himself. Awash in overwhelming guilt and remorse for an accident cloaked within a heinous crime, Ray careens through his involuntary vacation of high-brow culture and low-lifes for which his partner and friend, Ray must woefully shoulder.
Ray, played by Brenden Gleeson, serves as a steady counter-point to his strung-out partner. Gleeson is a quiet marvel of studied self-control. His Ray is at once genial and half-mocking, only to reveal a kindred ranting soul, seething at the injustices of his world, which forces him to make unpleasant choices that he can't neatly rationalize and would rather not face at all.
A deft supporting cast and subtle directing blend to lift this sharp little Indie film to a three-reeler for me. The only weakness for In Bruges is the screenplay, which at time wants to bludgeon us with the sin vs. redemption theme overandoverandover again. The triteness of Harry's final act almost ruins Ray's bittersweet hope for his future for us.