In Bruge Review:
I know I’m 8 months late, give me a break, I’ve been meaning to see it.
And I’m glad I finally did.
The film starring Colin Farrell (Phone Booth) and Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter Series) tells the story of two hired assassins who are sent to Bruges, Belgium to hide out after Colin Farell’s character, Ray, accidentally kills a child while on a job. While in Bruges Ray finds that he doesn’t hate it so much when he meets a beautiful girl on a movie set, along with a midget (or is it dwarf?) with an anger problem. I don’t wanna say much more, but the next hour and a half are full of laughs, action, and some beautiful moments of human nature.
The film is directed and written by highly acclaimed stage helmer Martin McDonagh. His skills on the stage have translated well to the screen, the direction isn’t truly felt, which I think is a good thing. The writing is top shelf stuff, and I hope he gets a nomination for the script.
The best feature of the film is the acting. Colin Farrell gives a wonderful performance playing the haunted, but charming Ray. Brendan Gleeson plays his character Ken, Ray’s Batman to his Robin. His role is the heart of the film and he really makes you wish that if you were an assassin, you would still have the heart he has. The real spark of the film though is Ralph Fiennes who plays the character of Harry, Ray and Ken’s boss. You don’t see him til about 45 minutes into the film, but his acting on the phone with Gleeson is rather hilarious, and when he finally appears he plays his character as part loser and part extreme badass asshole. I loved it. Along with his roles in The Reader and The Duchess this man deserves the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. That’s what I would say in any other year but this one, so hopefully he can at least be nomniated.
In Bruges is a wonderful little film that has been under the radar this entire year, and hopefully Focus Features makes a push to get a nomination or two because this is a film that really deserves it.
Also, I would now put it as number 6, on my Top 10 of 2008.
