Things to to do in Belgium when you're (almost) dead

Rating: 4/10 (21 May 2008)

Johanna Adorján is one of my favorite print journalists. So sharp is her mind and so acute her judgment that her reviews are universal, applicable even to movies she may not have seen at all. Anyway. She said, about some other movie, that, for reasons of clarity, it should be entitled "Beware! Very, very boring!" Very true, and very applicable to "In Bruges". I was at least as bored by the story as Colin Farrell's character is by medieval architecture. In fact, "In Bruges" is so boring that you wonder whether it was funded by the Flemish Board of Tourism. The movie only picks up some speed when Harry arrives on the scene. Cast against character, Ralph Fiennes plays a fast-talking mobster with a heart of gunpowder and a quirky code of honor. Minor perks include local lassies like Clémence Poésy (in the part of Chloë) and Thekla Reuten (as a hard-headed innkeeper). The one thing that makes the movie stand out despite its many flaws is Carter Burwell's music. But it feels strangely out of place in a movie so devoid of depth and drama. Guest appearance by Ciarán Hinds as a moribund priest. Oh, and for those of you who need to know: Johanna Adorján was talking about "Sex and the City". I guess that's another one to stay away from.