From NetFlix:
After accidentally killing an innocent boy in London, Irish
hit men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are sent
by their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), to lay low in Bruges.
But, uncomfortable in this foreign city, the two professional
killers soon get into trouble. Complicating matters further,
when the guilt-ridden Ray falls for a girl working on a film
shoot, he finds himself confronting the girl’s jealous
ex-boyfriend.
For me this film was a breath of fresh air. Or as they would say in the film, “this was a breath of F_ _ _ _ _ G fresh air!”. The F-word is used every other second. Ignoring that, the script and the stream of crazy events were an entertaining sequence of surprises. Colin Farrell plays a perfect naive, uncultured, blarney-filled hit man with a conscience (similar to his role in Cassandra’s Dream). The end of the movie is VERY VIOLENT. Not for children.
Makes you want to visit medieval Bruges,
I was a bit perplexed that this movie did so well in the award ceremonies, I wouldn’t have thought it broadly popular to the public. I think the advertisements for it were misleading – I was anticipating a quirky action / comedy, but this dark artsy movie was far from it.
I loved visiting Bruges – but I’m glad I went before having this movie as my reference point!
Martin McDonagh – the writer/director of “In Bruges” – is an Irish playwright known for his dark and twisted sense of humor. I had previously seen his rather gruesome (but excellent) play “The Pillowman,” so I had a sense of what to expect from “In Bruges” – if you like black comedies, this is for you.