A new place for purgatory

Rating: 8/10 (8 May 2012)

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason are "In Bruges," a 2008 film directed by Martin McDonagh.
Farrell and Gleason are Ray and Ken, two hit men sent to Bruges, Belgium to await instructions on their next hit from their boss Yuri (Ralph Fiennes). Ken (Gleason) loves the fairytale prettiness and medieval sites of the town, but Farrell, a volatile and troubled young man, is bored out of his mind. He perks up a little when he meets a pretty drug dealer and makes a date with her. It gets to be kind of messy, though, when he takes offense at the restaurant and beats up a fellow patron, and then at her place, her boyfriend.
Ken is at the hotel to receive the call on the next hit, and it's on Ray. The boss was trying to show him a nice time in a pretty place before he dies. The reason? On his first hit, which was in a church on a priest, one of Farrell's bullets hit a child. Not only can't Farrell recover from it, but Fiennes wants him gone.
Though this is a dark film, it has a great deal of humor, mostly provided by Farrell's excellent performance as the reckless Ray. The director, McDonagh, has skillfully enmeshed both the comedy and the drama together and woven the idea of heaven, hell, and purgatory into the story. For Ken, Bruges is his idea of heaven, peaceful and beautiful. For Ray, since they're stuck there for two weeks, it's purgatory.
"In Bruges" is a beautiful film about guilt, camaraderie, and the possibility of redemption. It's depressing but not completely. And the scenery, despite what Ray thinks, is beautiful.