It's an Excellent Drama with Some Funny Lines

Rating: 8/10 (11 April 2009)

Thank God for awards seasons or else low profile yet note-worthy films like "In Bruges" would never have made my list of movies to watch. I first read about it as one of the Top 10 films of 2008 in about.com, together with all five eventual Oscar Best Picture nominees. Then in the Golden Globes, both lead actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson netted nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy. Colin Farrell won his first Globe here. From then on, I knew I had to watch this.
You may wonder why I put "Drama" as the Genre above, instead of Comedy like the Golden Globes did. Well, it is simply because I did not think this was a comedy AT ALL! The plot follows two hit men sent to the medieval town of Bruges in Belgium to hide out after a messy assignment. The main conflicts and resolution of the story are hardly a laughing matter. Very serious issues of guilt and death are tackled here, with some very violent scenes.
Certainly, there are some really funny episodes and witty lines of dialogue interspersed within that main storyline. But for me, these ironic scenes and words do not a comedy make, even if that were the intention of the writer and director Martin McDonagh. Of course, this, I would not really know.
The interaction of Farrell and Gleeson was flawless. They both deserved to be nominated, yet the victory of one over the other is debatable. Farrell played the younger guy Ray who carries with him the weight of a tragic miscalculation. Gleeson is his jaded senior Ken who has already learned to find the good in bad situations. Ralph Fiennes adds to the mix with a startling performance as their malevolent boss Harry, who has a weird misplaced sense of honor.
More interesting color is added to the film by the various flawed characters the two meet in Bruges. Despite the number of these people in the sidelines, each one plays an important role in the story and film never loses its focus. I have to mention here the very pretty love interest Chloe (Clemence Poesy) and the midget actor Jimmy (Jordan Prentice) for putting in some memorable quality screen time and dialogue.
Although excellent, this may not be a film for everyone. The violent scenes can be quite bloody. There are several lines that may offend midgets, blacks and Belgians, but I guess that is where most of the black humor lay. In addition, I appreciated the fact that I watched a copy with good subtitles since the Irish brogue can get difficult to understand. And, like Ken, I do like the look, history and ambiance of Bruges, and I would like to visit that place sometime in the future.