Very slow first act, but soon warms up into a fantastic, thoughtful movie

Rating: 8/10 (12 July 2008)

In Bruges has flaws in abundance, particularly through the first 30 minutes where you are served a couple unlikeable characters, a very slow plot build, and bad dialogue with an extremely distracting overuse of the F word. For a while, you might be forgiven for wondering if you are watching something written by a fourteen year old boy trying (unsuccessfully) to emulate Tarantino or Guy Richie. I caught myself wondering if I should turn it off and do something better with my time instead. My wife commented on how bored she was.
Fortunately for us, we bore through that terrible first half-hour and were subsequently rewarded with a movie that became increasingly enjoyable, fresh and... dare I say it... poignant, as it moved along. This is, for the most part, down to an amazing performance by Brendan Gleeson. Collin Farrel is good here, and Ralph Fiennes is great as usual; but it's Gleeson who steals every scene. And it's the honour and integrity of his character Ken that will linger in your mind long after the credits have rolled.