In Bruges
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Movie Reviews of In Bruges
Movie Review: I'll Be Quoting This Movie for Years
Summary: 5 Stars
This film is quotable in the model of The Princess Bride, with one memorable line after another.
Ken and Ray are hit men for a powerful criminal figure, Harry. Ken (Brendan Gleeson) is a kindly older gentleman while Ray (Colin Farrell) is a brash young man anxious to live all of life this minute. After a botched hit in London, Harry (Ralph Fiennes) sends the two to the town of Bruges, Belgium. For Ray, this is the worst spot on earth:
"If I'd grown up on a farm and was retarded, Bruges might impress me, but I didn't, so it doesn't."
So while Ken tries to get Ray interested in sightseeing, ancient canals, historic cathedrals, and architecture, Ray is more interested in movie being filmed on location which features a midget and a beautiful blond. The idea of keeping a low profile seems to escape the younger killer and keeping control over his partner is daunting for the aging killer.
This movie masks the underlying tragic story with hilarious comedy and the craftsmanship to give opposing emotions like that is masterful. All the way through everything bad that can happen does, stacking the tension like a playing card castle. You'll love Ken from the beginning and grow to love Ray by the end. And at the ending, right at that final scene you'll realize that the filmmaker, Martin McDonagh wrote and directed a perfect concluding sequence. If you ask me, it couldn't have ended any other way and been convincing.
I can't write anymore without giving something away. Go see it, it'll make you happy and sad.
- CV Rick, February 2008
Movie Review: SNIPPY BLACK COMEDY WITH A GLOWING HEART
Summary: 5 Stars
As you start watching this film, hopefully without any prior expectations, you're taken in by the absurd hilarity of two hitmen sent to a sleepy Belgian town and their pathetic attempts at being touristy while waiting for further instructions. The lopey banter between them and among the people they find is fascinating and often laugh-out-loud funny. The character development is deft, twisted.
But as the real purpose of their trip becomes clearer, the film takes a progressively darker turn. By turn ferocious and feeling, it grabs you right up to its soul-stretching finale. Bruges is quite a town, and treated with all the pizazz it richly deserves, but the real juice here is in the spectacular acting. Ferrel is spot-on in the skin of his bumbling criminal feeling remorse, Fiennes a walking dichotomy between mania and scruples, and Gleeson's mellowing middle-aged pro a fine breath of sanity amid insanity.
This is McDonagh's first movie after what seems to be a successful run as a playwright. His choice of climax here is not for the faint of heart; he clearly had a ball going plum off his nut. But when you are done, you know you have watched something hypnotic, something rare, something ultimately a provocative rumination over the conflicted humanity of even the most 'evil' among us. McDonagh the new film director has a firm spot on my watch list.
This is quite simply among the most eminently ownable DVDs around. Get it pronto, you'll be seeing it more than once.
Movie Review: Tottenham Isn't in My Travel Plans...
Summary: 5 Stars
... but I laughed out loud at the conscience-stricken killer's suggestion that it was a circle closer to Hell than Bruges. When I laugh out loud at a film I'm watching by myself -- and I did laugh out loud more than once -- that film automatically gets my five-star rating.
I'm not gonna waste a lot of college-seminar training on an exegesis of this flick. I take it to be a spoof of the genre, a totally tongue-in-cheek satire of fashionable amorality. Some reviewers have compared it to Tarantino. Okay, but it reminded me more of the Coen Brothers, though it wasn't quite THAT funny and it didn't have the ripples of mordant social criticism of a Coen flick.
I prefer NOT to recognize actors. When I don't recognize them, I can assume they're acting. The only one I recognized in In Bruges was Ralph Fiennes; I knew I'd seen him before but I couldn't have said when or where. His was the comic villain role and he played it with gruesome delight. Colin Farrell seems to be a household name for other reviewers; I thought he was uproarious -- glum, crass, stupid, Sunday-schoolish -- as the hit man who botched his first hit and missed his merit badge for amorality. Brendan Gleeson was a jolly old elf of a veteran killer with a heart of gold. The city of Bruges played its role of tainted beauty to perfection, an old Medieval tart all gaudied up for tourist johns. I hope the jade got beaucoup Euros for selling itself to the producers of this film.
Movie Review: From the ashes of disaster...
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to come down on the side of those who love this movie. Yes, there is violence, there is racism, there is drug use, and there is LANGUAGE, but honestly, these guys are not Smurfs. They're hired killers for cryin' out loud.
Two assassins are hiding out in Bruges on the orders of of their boss. They've just killed a priest and quite by accident have also killed a young boy in prayer. That scene is brief and shocking, but is 100% required for the rest of the movie to make sense. So they're hiding in Bruges, waiting for the boss to call. And they start to wonder, why Bruges? The answer is surprising on a couple of levels and is typical of what makes this movie different from the rest.
The older assassin is able to spend his time savoring Bruges and coming to love it. The younger one never will and seems to enjoy finding new ways to insult the medieval town.
And then the call comes and then the boss comes and all hell breaks loose. But even then, the movie has style and a humanity that sets it apart from the rest. The ending can be described in one word - Fellini. Except it's completely understandable.
As I said, I really liked this film. The language was appropriate to the characters, the violence was necessary for the story, and the comedy was dark and funny. But do keep in mind that it is British and British comedy is not for everyone. Fortunately, I was reared on it.
Movie Review: Really nice hit men...
Summary: 5 Stars
I liked "In Bruges" a lot, though I question it's Golden Globe status as a comedy. I can't argue Mr. Farrell's win as Best Actor. It's a buddy movie, and I was remotely reminded of "Pulp Fiction", where the language was second nature. Certainly, there's a lot of mindless profanity, but a clever DVD extra shows just how silly it all is. The camaraderie between Farrell and Brendan Gleeson is well established; the ARE an odd couple, but there's a fondness that develops that is special. This is largely the achievement of writer-director Martin McDonagh, keeping creepiness, sad memories, and an unusual sense of humor that prevails throughout. Then there's the later appearance of Ralph Fiennes, the most clueless of mean persons. Without blabbing anything away, they all create an enigmatic trio. I enjoyed Jordan Prentice a lot, a confident actor with some delightfully bitter dialogue; I recall that Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent) was as bitter and suspicious. Certainly, the little people have been given few chances to shine. He was a real character, and delightful. The only Oscar nomination is for Screenplay, and if you can see beyond the profanity, it's insightful, clever and touching. Indeed, Colin Farrell's best performance. I enjoyed it a lot. And Bruges is, indeed, a character unto itself. Stunning photography as required; another fine DVD extra is a boat trip through the canals. Quite instructive.