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In Bruges

Review By: Michael Dance
MichaelDance@TheCinemaSource.com

In Bruges presents us with a main character who committed an absolutely horrible crime, and then asks us to care about him as he meets girls, makes jokes, and insults people while on vacation. Miraculously, we do, in this tragicomic hitman movie written and directed by playwright Martin McDonagh (The Pillowman).

The horrible crime: on his first assignment, hitman Ray (Colin Farrell) accidentally kills a young boy. His boss Harry hooks him up with fellow hitman Ken (Brendan Gleeson) and tells them to get the heck out of London and hide out in Bruges for a while. "I didn’t even know where Bruges was," Ray says in the brief opening narration. Then a long pause, before: "It’s in Belgium."

In a lesser (or less-aware) movie, Ray would be totally unsympathetic and that would be that. But McDonagh and Farrell both know very well they’re on thin ice – when a character says, "You can’t kill a kid and expect to get away with it," it feels like a line from a screenwriting teacher – and they make it work. Because for all the laughs the movie provides, the underlying story is about how Ray is trying not to kill himself out of grief and guilt. And thus the heaviness balances out the levity, and we’re left with a thoughtful, charming tightrope act.

The movie also works thanks to good old-fashioned star power. Farrell may not be the Will Smith-type of leading man that Hollywood was hoping for a few years ago, but I could watch him in smaller movies like this one forever. The simplest way to describe his character, and this is coming from a straight male, is adorable. He’s like an anxious kid, forced to cope with something much heavier than anyone should have to, and his character’s arc ends up in a heartbreakingly satisfying place.

Brendan Gleeson, as his partner Ken, is terrific, doing what he does best: bringing out his good-natured, gentle charm from inside his imposing, retired-bouncer build. And Ralph Fiennes, who shows up past the halfway mark as their boss Harry, has loads of fun overacting as the psychotic but principled bad guy. That’s the thing: all of the actors are having loads of fun, because McDonagh knows how to write characters that actors would love to play and the audience, in turn, will love to watch.

For all the "heaviness" I’ve been describing, it’s worth nothing that on one level, In Bruges plays like a crime comedy that follows a familiar theme: hitmen are people, too. Wile some scenes feel excessively "wacky" – i.e. when Ray and Ken find themselves doing blow with a dwarf and his hooker in a hotel room – there are numerous moments of genuine, laugh-out-loud humor, both broad and subtle. When Ray gets chased by an ...