One of the funniest--and best--movies ever produced

Rating: 10/10 (3 January 2015)

In Bruges is an extraordinarily clever dark comedy about conflicted Irish hit-men cooling their heels, well, in Bruges. The plot twists and turns as crazily but purposefully as the streets of the medieval city in which it is set. The acting is spot on throughout--the actors clearly enjoying the jokes--and in several scenes the writer/director manages to draw breathtakingly exquisite comedy from the most apparently serious conversations. If you're going to kill a man in an alcove, you want to know you're using the right word, after all. This is actually one of the best movies ever made, and represents a signal achievement. Odd that it didn't get more recognition than it did, but its subject matter and strange humor may have just been too taut to allow comparisons with 2001 or The Godfather. It's not quite as good as the former (though almost), and a lot better than the latter. Puts Citizen Kane in the shade, which is like spending three hours, well, in Bruges.