In Bruges

(2008)

Directed by

Martin McDonagh

Review by Zach Saltz

Bruges is one of those cities that looks forgotten by time and helplessly doomed to a fate of ancient historians scavenging its Renaissance cathedrals for hidden artifacts and bored tourists having nothing to do but feast at is charming restaurants and scale its famed massive Church of Our Lady two or three times.  They can take boat rides down the various nearby canals, but after two or three days, Bruges can get on anyone’s nerves – particularly for those escaping the law.

“Maybe that’s what hell is,” Ray cynically tells Ken, “an eternity spent in Bruges.”  What Ray doesn’t seem to realize is that he and Ken have been sent to Bruges by their crime boss as a direct punishment for a horrific and unmerciful murder committed by Ray under conspicuous circumstances.  I will not give specific details about this murder, but I will say that it is as grisly and sobering a murder as anything I have ever seen in the movies, and the fact that Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges is able to circumvent its harrowing central event and create around it a charming and droll comedy is nothing short of a remarkable achievement.

Ray and Ken (played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) are sent to Bruges to lay low until talk of the murder has died down.  In their lag time, the two do some sightseeing (Ken, a medieval history buff, cheerfully announces to Ray after looking up from his guidebook: “Bruges is the best-preserved medieval city in Belgium!”), eat some good food, and casually watch the shooting of a film taking place on a nearby street – something Ray finds as fascinating and compelling as Ken finds the local sculptures and architecture.  The film being shot is a curious one, involving a beautiful young actress as the lead (played by Clemence Posey, who plays Fleur Delacour in the latest Harry Potter films) whom Ray quickly befriends and attempts to seduce.  The local film also involves a short-tempered American dwarf (Jordan Prentice), who is directly involved in some of In Bruge’s biggest laughs -- particularly one scene where he informs the others of his shockingly racist social views.

Then there is Harry, the foul-mouthed crime boss played by Ralph Finnes (looking nearly as sinister as he did in Schindler’s List, and again adding to the film’s multiple Harry Potter connections), who, after writing an angry message to Ray and Ken, causes Ray to casually observe of him in the film’s oh-so-droll blend of obvious comedic wit: “He swears a lot.”  Harry soon finds himself in Bruges as a result of Ken becoming too attached to his overcaffinated buddy.  The ensuing result is a climax which is surprisingly poignant, and where the fates of the main characters are a result of ethical decisions rather guns and fistfights. 

The performances here are first-rate, although we don’t realize how effective they really are until we realize that no other actor could possibly pull off the Ray character as funny, maniacal, and off-the-wall as Colin Farrell.  I’ve always enjoyed Farrell’s performances and I suspect that, like Christopher Walken and Robert De Niro, Farrell really has a subtle comedic side which unfortunately has not been as exposed as it should be.  There is one particular line of Ray’s that illustrates especially well Farrell’s comedic capabilities: “If I grew up on a farm and was retarded, Bruges might impress me, but I didn’t and it doesn’t.”  Under most other hands, this line would be perfectly normal and unremarkable, but Farrell turns it into one of the funniest moments of the film.  Gleeson, that bulky hulk of a character actor, is equally effective as the almost archetypal big man with a surprising emotional side.

In Bruges is not a particularly original film – it follows the buddy-comedy-caper genre right down to its Laurel and Hardy and Lethal Weapon roots – but what makes it fun is the characters that surround Ray and Ken and their story; characters like the pregnant receptionist at the desk, who, after taking a message for Ken, discreetly writes at the bottom that she is indeed not a receptionist, but along with her husband, the co-owner of the hotel; or like the young starlet’s hotheaded boyfriend, who fires a gun full of blanks with the hopes of killing Ray.  If the pace is sometimes unnerving and if the material is occasionally too dark for a comedy, it is made up by the offbeat characters and irreverent dialogue that make it one of the best recent entries to the long and established “buddy movie” catalogue.

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