Masterful...an Irish Pulp Fiction

Rating: 10/10 (25 June 2008)

If the three most important things in real estate are Location, Location, and Location, the three most important things in a great film are Dialog, Dialog, and Dialog. "In Bruges" has Dialog up the wazoo. There haven't been this many black comedy one-liners in one film since "Pulp Fiction." All three of the principal actors are superb, with each revealing new facets of their talents I had not suspected before, even though I know their work well. Most impressive in a way is Colin Farrell, finally rescued from the handsome male lead ghetto and given some lines to really chew on. And chew he does...his Ray makes up for with scathing wit what he lacks in subtlety. The subtlety belongs to Brendan Gleeson, who manages to transcend both his character Ken's profession (hit man) and his background to explore the art, culture, and philosophy that he finds in Bruges. Ray thinks Bruges is Hell; Ken finds it a kind of Heaven. And the third surprise in this film is Ralph Fiennes, a very, very different Ralph Fiennes than we see in *his* handsome male lead ghetto roles.
Martin McDonagh has been called "the most famous Oscar-winning director you've never heard of," based on his win for a short called "Six Shooter." I've seen that film, and it's even darker in its way than "In Bruges." But it's that Irish kind of dark that is full of humor. Black humor, admittedly, but humor nonetheless. And, like "Pulp Fiction," if you can get beyond the surface characters and what they are and what they do for a living, and focus on what they're SAYING, the humor is side-splitting. I snorted milk through my nose at Ray's "They're filming midgets!" and at several other lines. I haven't had so much fun listening to two hit men talk since Jules and Vincent and the Big Kahuna Burger.