In Bruges

July 25, 2008

Rated: R Runtime: 107 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

At first glance this seems a bit like QUENTIN TARANTINO’S EUROPEAN VACATION. Two London hit men, Ray and Ken (Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleeson), flub a hit badly. So badly that they have to get out of town. Their boss (Ralph Fiennes) sends them to Belgium to lay low for awhile, two weeks, supposedly, in the sleepy Medieval town of Bruges.

While they’re there, the older, jovial Ken wants to play tourist. The younger Ray is bored out of his skull, and also guilt ridden for what he did back in London. They spend a lot of time sitting in restaurants and talking about funny stuff, all while swearing a blue streak. Periodically there’s some sudden, shocking violence.

But the film works at a deeper level than a Tarantino movie. While Tarantino’s characters like to B.S. about philosophy, these guys, surprisingly, actually seem like fairly moral guys beneath their hit men exteriors. And that probably means they’ve chosen a career that isn’t going to end well for them.

Ray strikes up a romance with a Belgian girl (who incidentally is ClÃ©mence PoÃ©sy, the French Chick in HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE).

He also meets a surly dwarf, hilariously played by Jordan Prentice (And I would have bet money it was Peter Dinklage, because the two actors do look similar, although probably not side-by-side) who is in Bruges to film a movie where he plays the inevitable dwarf in a dream sequence (which is probably a joke reference to Peter Dinklage’s role in LIVING IN OBLIVION).

This is a dark comedy, and very funny, but ultimately surprisingly moving as well. The ending maybe has a little too much synchronicity for its own good.

DVD extras: Deleted and Extended Scenes, Gag Reel, When in Bruges (Making Of), Strange Bruges, A Boat Trip Around Bruges, F**king Bruges.

Posted by Mack Guffin | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, Brendan Gleeson, ClÃ©mence PoÃ©sy, Colin Ferrell, Comedy, DVD, Drama, Jordan Prentice, Ralph Fiennes