Laughter and tears in Bruges

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2010)

The idea of a film about a couple of foul-mouthed Irish hit men laying low in Bruges after one of them has accidentally killed a child in a church doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs but there are plenty of laugh out loud moments in this black comedy.
The two men are Ken, the older of the two who loves the culture and history in the ancient town and Ray who thinks two weeks stuck in Bruges is like purgatory. Ray is having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that he killed a child to such an extent that he is contemplating suicide... he might not have to do it however as Ken gets a call from Harry, their employer, telling him he is to kill Ray. Of course nothing goes quite as expected, Ray falls in love with a local con-woman and ends up dealing with her less than competent ex-boyfriend who threatens him with a revolver, a dwarf who has some strange views about race when on drugs and some large American tourists who don't like being told they are too big to go up a church tower.
The Martin McDonagh wrote a great script the brilliantly directed a cast of talented actors; Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell were great as Ken and Ray, they are able supported by Clémence Poésy as Ray's new girlfriend Chloe, Thekla Reuten as pregnant hotel owner Marie and Ralph Fiennes as the two killers' employer who had a strict rule about never hurting a child.
If you are offended by swearing give this film a wide birth as it contains almost non-stop bad language, it also contains some bloody violence that might bother some viewers, however if these things don't bother you then I'd strongly recommend this, a laughed out loud many times and won't deny that I also shed a few tears.