Brooding in Bruges

Rating: 9/10 (16 February 2009)

One of the outstanding movies of 2008, "In Bruges" is that rare cinematic high wire act that manages to juggle any number of seemingly contradictory moods and tones simultaneously without ever once dropping the ball. Alternating between the absurdly funny and the deadly serious, the movie, written and directed by Martin McDonagh, offers a wise, witty and surprisingly touching take on friendship, guilt, redemption and the strange code of ethics that guides the behavior of the professional killer (those who appear in the movies at least).
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason are superb as Ray and Ken, two British hit men who are sent to Bruges, Belgium to hide out after Ray accidentally kills a young boy in an assassination gone wrong. Stuck in this strange Medieval city, the two men make the best of a bad situation, Ken by taking in the sights and immersing himself in the rich history and culture of the place, Ray by moaning about how bored and homesick he is, all the while trying to work through the guilt of having the blood of an innocent child on his hands.
In a screenplay crackling with irony and wit, McDonagh paints the portrait of an unusual friendship between two men who seemingly have little in common beyond their chosen profession and a mutual respect for one another. Ken is mature, well educated, even-tempered and pragmatic, while Ray is unbright, hot-headed, and easily provoked by the words and actions of others. Yet, somewhere beneath his rough-and-tumble, sometimes rather befuddled exterior beats a giving heart and an appreciation for the good that can be found in certain people. Gleason and Farrell give performances of immense sophistication and depth, with Farrell, in particular, creating a fully rounded portrait of a "loveable" killer. His body compressed down into a perpetual slump while a host of conflicting emotions flutter across his expressive face, Farrell demonstrates that he has the physicality an actor needs to make a character come to life on screen. In a much smaller role, Ralph Fiennes also makes his mark as the mob boss who has some strange notions about what constitutes morality and honor when it comes to killing.
Add to all these various virtues lyrical direction by McDonagh, beautiful cinematography by Eigil Bryld, some colorful minor characters, and architecture guaranteed to knock the viewer's eye out - and you have one of the true movie going pleasures of recent years.