One of the best movies so far this year.

Rating: 9/10 (7 July 2008)

Even if the "life of a hit-man" thing has been done many times before, "In Bruges" is a great movie, and miles above most of the crap being put out in theaters today.
The story is about two hit men, Ray and Ken, who, after a hit that went wrong, are ordered to go to Bruges (it's in Belgium) and wait for their orders there. Ken goes around sightseeing, but Ray hates the place and wants to get out of there as soon as possible. Ray is still haunted by what happened at the last hit (I won't give away what happened, because it might be a spoiler) and is pretty depressed. But it all changes after Ken receives a phone call from his boss...
As I said before, the "life of a hit-man" genre has been done many times. "Pulp Fiction", "You Kill Me", movies like that. I somewhat enjoyed "You Kill Me", but "In Bruges" is a definite step up.
Ray and Ken are two interesting characters that are fleshed out well for the movie. They really are two good characters that you end up caring about by the end of the film.
The dialog is great, and the black humor is very funny at parts. Some viewers might not "get" the humor, but they can just go back to watching recycled crap like "First Sunday" and "Meet the Spartans". I thought it was really funny.
But the tone isn't always humorous, as soon the story turns even darker. The plot is interesting, and there's many unexpected twists along the way. It's a good balance between humor and drama, and the movie plays both perfectly.
It's a shame movies like "Fool's Gold" get nationwide release and lots of publicity, but a gem like "In Bruges" gets forgotten. If you want a great comedy/drama, I definitely recommend "In Bruges", but if you want a full-on action-packed thriller, this really isn't what you're wanting.
"In Bruges" has an engrossing plot, great character development and is overall just a GOOD movie. It's out on DVD now, and I definitely recommend that you rent it, or even buy it! It truly is great, and I say: SEE IT.