Fear and loathing....and horse tranquilizers...in Bruges

Rating: 10/10 (2 March 2008)

This is exactly my sort of film. If you like edgy, minimalist crime capers, this is your sort of film too. If you liked "The Limey" and/or "The Matador", I think you'll like this one. Really I thought I'd like this one, but didn't expect it to be as satisfying as it was.
Colin Farrell really should be considered for an Oscar for this performance. He plays Ray, a troubled hit-man who is struggling to come to terms with the aftermath of a hit gone wrong. While some commenters have noted Ray's erratic behavior, few have mentioned his quite profound crisis of conscience. Some might say he has no conscience but that is undercut by the moral code to which the hit men in this film adhere. This one act has thrown him completely off-course and he acts out in anti-social (and very funny) ways. He insults other tourists; he is excessively irritated by minor things. He is completely disinterested in sightseeing in the beautiful medieval city (it's in Belgium) where he and and his laid-back accomplice, Ken (the ever professional Brendan Gleeson) have been sent with instructions to lay low until they get their next word from their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes playing a character whose job and demeanor seem very similar to those of Ben Kingsley in "Sexy Beast." That said, Fiennes, makes this role his own with his passion and intelligence).
Director Martin McDonagh, as mentioned, has a flare for capturing the ultimately sad human essence of hit men. He does not glamorize them but captures them at their most mundane. The laughs seem all the funnier for their very universality. That said, he never loses sight of the fact that this story is really about hit men attempting to come to terms with what they have done. It lends the story a sobering undertone which ensures the movie will stay with you for a long time. Farrell is absolutely at the top of his game. Fiennes is (like Ben Kingsley in "Sexy Beast") scarily psychotic, and Brendan Gleeson is, like others have said in comments, the moral center of the film. The conclusion is satisfying and appropriate and I cannot wait to see what McDonagh does next.