The only thing worse than being stuck in Bruges is watching "In Bruges"!

Rating: 3/10 (8 February 2008)

In Bruges is one of those comedies that thinks it is far more witty and clever than it actually is. It's a shame, because it has an interesting premise with a lot of potential, but ultimately that potential amounts to nothing more than cussing and midget jokes.
The film follows two hit men, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) who are ordered by their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), to hide away in the remote Belgian town of Bruges after a botched hit in London. They are supposed to stay until Harry gives them a call saying it's OK to leave. Ken seizes the opportunity to explore and sightsee while Ray, who takes an instant disliking to Bruges, prefers to spend his time at the pub. While there, the duo have many strange encounters in Bruges, including ones with a midget actor, a skinhead robber, Dutch prostitutes, and involving loads of drugs, all which lead up to a matter of life-or-death situation involving Ray, Ken and Harry.
In Bruges is a strange combination of a drama and a comedy, and it really fails in both genres. The movie is primarily a comedic one. Although there are a few jokes that were mildly funny, most of them fall flat. The problem is that In Bruges presents itself as "sophisticated" and tries to come off as clever, character-based comedy, yet half the jokes are incredibly low brow. For instance, there are repetitive jokes involving a midget. Even if the joke had been remotely funny in the first place (which it wasn't), it's repeated far too many times before the movie ends. Most of the jokes are mean-spirited and un-politically correct. Don't get me wrong, I normally wouldn't have a problem with that. However, here there is nothing funny. Ray ridicules overweight people, he karate chops the midget, he knocks out a couple in a restaurant, swears like a sailor and (once again with the midget) engages in a discussion about whether or not there will be a race war in the future. None of this is funny. It's cruel-spirited for the sake of it. The director must know that simply being mean-spirited isn't funny. There's nothing clever or witty about it. It's the same humor we've seen done before, in countless idiotic, low brow comedies, presented as a Sundance-approved, highbrow comedy.
As well, it would've helped if the lead role was played by someone other than Colin Farrell. I like Farrell; he's a good actor. He is not a comedic actor though. He's just not funny. It's as simple as that. His performance here is good, but he's not funny enough for a movie like this. His character gets most of the better lines in the film and they are all wasted. Ralph Fiennes fairs much better comically, yet is relegated to the last 30 minutes of the film.
The rest of the movie is a mess, as it strives to be a thought-provoking drama, as well as an action film towards the end. There are long periods of the movie devoid of jokes, which would be fine if anything were happening. Unfortunately, for the first hour of the film, nothing much happens. Ray and Ken stumble around Bruges doing random things. It's boring and dull. There are a few emotional moments here and there, and although they are well done, they don't fit in with the rest of the movie, which is often crude and crass. The last 20 minutes has some good action, violence and shoot-outs, but which once again, really has no place in this film. The ending switches gears from this and attempts to be profound. It feels out of place. "Hot Fuzz", which came out almost a year ago and had a similar premise, stuck primarily to the comedy genre and succeeded. In Bruges tries to blend together comedy and drama, trying to be profound, rude, funny and thrilling. It's too much and the film would've worked better if it had focused more on one of these areas.
All in all, I can't say I recommend In Bruges. It's a jumbled mess of a film that thinks much too highly of itself. The only thing worse than being stuck in Bruges would be having to watch this film again.