In Bruges (Martin McDonagh, 2008): Belgium

I have not seen all of the films produced by Focus Features, I haven’t even seen half yet I would say. I have yet to see a Focus Feature film that I did not like however. In Bruges is no exception, I really enjoyed seeing it at this year’s SB film festival. In Bruges is about two guys, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) who have committed murder (they’re both guns for hire) and need to hide out for awhile. Their boss sends them to Bruges for two weeks to get away from anyone who might be looking for them. Hilarity ensues.

What I liked:
This is the best role I have seen Colin Farrell play yet, his character is so funny I could hardly pay any attention to the awkward seat I was stuck in. This is by far the funniest film I have seen this year, which is weird because the actual story is still very well written. The message sent out is pretty good: Don’t kill little kids and be nice to midgets, unless they are racists. It sounds kind of funny to hear, but only that latter of the two subjects is satire, the first is taken very serious and sets much of the tone of the story. The ending is also my favorite kind of wrap up; it leaves room for your imagination to fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, on my way out of the completely sold out Metro 4 theatre, I over heard many folks complaining that their lack of imagination brought them to hate the ending… they said they liked everything else though. If you have already seen the previews, the jokes told are pretty funny and anti-american, but they get much funnier when uncut. Colin Farrell has good comedic timing in this feature. The lighting is done incredibly well throughout the film too, there are a few scenes that quite obviously show the Focus Features ‘logo’, however it’s still done tastefully and so subtly that it only strikes as ‘artsy’ if you aren’t look for it.

What I didn’t like so much:
There are a few events that I would think could have been written a little better, I mean Martin McDonagh did write them and he is a well recognize and appreciated play write.
Some things are left to such change that it seems odd that certain Canadian people could point out Ray in the crowd he is in, yet alone find where he even is (trying not to give something pretty big away). I really don’t think there is much else I didn’t like however, which is a good thing, obviously.

Overall:
In Bruges was a lot better than I expected, it was certainly more entertaining than Definitely, Maybe but it was pretty bloody and violent, so I can see why it wasn’t the opening night film. I love going from laughing hysterically to quickly thrown into a sort of serious mind state and In Bruges did just that. It also made me want to see Bruges… sort of. Scratch all that… it’s a movie about midgets, go see it. If not at the festival, at least check it out when it hits theatres nation wide.

8.5 out of 10.

-Keith.