Visually stunning photography of the silent byways and crannies of the ancient medieval city of Bruges frames a story of guilt and honor played out by wonderfully demented hit men.
In Bruges (2008)
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Reviews Counted:151
Fresh:121
Rotten:30
Average Rating:7/10
Consensus: Featuring witty dialogue and deft performances In Bruges is an effective mix of dark comedy and crime thriller elements.
Rated: 18 [See Full Rating] for strong bloody violence, pervasive language and some drug use.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:07-03-2008
Synopsis: Mr. McDonagh makes his feature directorial debut on the film, from his own original screenplay. His plays (which include The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Pillowman) have brought him two... Mr. McDonagh makes his feature directorial debut on the film, from his own original screenplay. His plays (which include The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Pillowman) have brought him two Olivier Awards and four Tony Award nominations. He wrote and directed Six Shooter, starring Brendan Gleeson, which earned him the 2006 Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short Film. In Bruges was filmed on location; Bruges (pronounced "broozh"), the most well-preserved medieval city in the whole of Belgium, is a welcoming destination for travelers from all over the world. But for hit men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson), it could be their final destination; a difficult job has resulted in the pair being ordered right before Christmas by their London boss Harry (two-time Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) to go and cool their heels in the storybook Flemish city for a couple of weeks. Very much out of place amidst the gothic architecture, canals, and cobbled streets, the two hit men fill their days living the lives of tourists. Ray, still haunted by the bloodshed in London, hates the place, while Ken, even as he keeps a fatherly eye on Ray's often profanely funny exploits, finds his mind and soul being expanded by the beauty and serenity of the city. But the longer they stay waiting for Harry's call, the more surreal their experience becomes, as they find themselves in weird encounters with locals, tourists, violent medieval art, a dwarf American actor (Jordan Prentice) shooting a European art film, Dutch prostitutes, and a potential romance for Ray in the form of Chloë (Clémence Poésy), who may have some dark secrets of her own. And when the call from Harry does finally come, Ken and Ray's vacation becomes a life-and-death struggle of darkly comic proportions and surprisingly emotional consequences. --© Focus Features [More]
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clemence Poesy
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Clemence Poesy, Jordan Prentice, Jérémie Rénier
Director: Martin McDonagh
Director: Martin McDonagh
Screenwriter: Martin McDonagh
Producer: Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin
Composer: Carter Burwell
Studio: Focus Features
Reviews for In Bruges
In Bruges is the first movie by the celebrated Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, who also wrote the script. It's an electrifyingly funny take on the Euro-gangster flick.
It is easily one of the best debut feature films in recent memory. The notion of a pair of hit men cooling their heels as they're forced to play tourist in a picture-postcard town is clever enough. But as the story unspools, it grows more intriguing.
Nothing is new about In Bruges, and yet writer-director Martin McDonagh makes it seem fresh.
Overplotted, choppy, and contrived, it nonetheless has a curious vitality that makes you wonder where McDonagh will go next.
A kind of eccentric, wisecracking Waiting for Godot that shifts gears into a bloody, unpredictable action spectacle that never loses its heart.
In Bruges is not a great movie, but there's no mistaking that it's the product of a great talent.
Disappointingly strip-mines the very fatigued comic hit-man genre to diminishing returns.
There are good moments laced through the severely uneven In Bruges, but the best reason for seeing it is Bruges itself.
If you could hoist a film on your shoulders and parade it through the theater for adulation and hoorays, the new British crime comedy In Bruges would be the one.
Gleeson and Farrell have a fine, natural chemistry, so it's a shame when circumstances change and rob the film of its greatest asset, especially when that charm is replaced by silly shoot-outs that leave the audience stranded in an unintended purgatory.
While [director McDonagh] proves less skilled at managing a plot-driven narrative, sensational performances from all involved -- Farrell, dangerous and dim, hasn't been this natural in ages -- more than shoulder the burden.
It feels contrived -- often clever and sometimes funny but always self-conscious, one of those indie flicks where the damn quirkiness is plastered on and right in your face. It's like an architect making the gargoyles the centrepiece of his church.
[Director McDonagh's] seesawing between slapstick and horror comes across as opportunistic because ultimately he cannot place the lives of these men in a credible moral context.
The movie gradually deepens from odd-couple comedy into Catholic-themed drama, but it remains marvelously funny throughout.
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August 15, 2008:
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