IN BRUGES (2008)

 In Bruges (2008)
Crime/Drama/Thriller

Director: Martin McDonagh

Writer: Martin McDonagh

Stars: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes

My rating 4/5

I sometimes wonder what actually makes a movie boring or interesting. Is it the script, story or the pure performance by the actors? Or is it the overall mood of the movie? How come some fast phased action movies are so boring and some slow phased dramas are truly interesting? I guess there is no single answer. But ‘In Bruges’ makes me rethink these things. 

‘In Bruges’ is about 2 hit men (Ray and Ken) who go in to hiding and waiting for the next big job in Belgium at the tourist city of Bruges. The plot unfolds the emotional difficulties which they have to tackle whilst conquering the differences between themselves in order to be prepared for the upcoming job. And a certain regret which starts to drawback Ray from everything. While Ken calls Bruges a paradise Ray find the city to be boring and uneventful (Shithall in his own words) until he met with some local beauty. (I won’t be telling the rest of the story spoiling the thriller part so don’t push me)

‘In Bruges’ in many ways remind me of ‘The American’. Of course The American was made recently and In Bruges was earlier so I think the recent movie must have had a mild inspiration there. Especially the story line including professional hit men and the wonderful sets in the small cities of Europe gives me some similarities. ‘In Bruges’ show some breath taking mid evil architecture quite impressively while giving several background info on them as well. 

 The most entertaining part of the whole movie is the story. Yes there are crime and twists but more than that there are feelings, pain and emotion which drives it strong. When it comes to performance Colin Farrell (Ray) just melts his character right in to the viewer’s hearts. Don’t think you will ever get the feeling to forgive an assassin like you would want it to be for Ray. 

Overall the movie is quite slow. For the first 40 minutes there is nothing much at all other than the two guys roaming the city and talking about their differences. But that nicely creates a base for the next half of the movie which has more drama and action. Sometimes there is sudden unexpected gore which you may not get used to it until the last scene. 

Overall ‘In Bruges’ is a gem in between the monotonous vastly scattered pebbles.

Trailer