In Bruges is a haunting and hypnotic movie, just the thing to get lost in.
In Bruges (2008)
Tomatometer
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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
It somehow manages to never stop being brutally funny, while also becoming tragically bleak.
A bravura, genre-twisting gem. This is one picture that packs a wallop.
Fun romp filled with likable hit-men, breezy dialogue and unexpected diversions.
After playing one too many sullen poseurs it's clear Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes had a ball making an inky black comedy seething with grandiose invective.
For what it's worth it's not often you get to see an angry Irish hitman doing coke while hanging with Dutch prostitutes and a racist dwarf.
When it's funny, it's hilarious; when it's serious, it's powerful; and either way, it's an endless pleasant surprise.
Martin McDonagh's raucous dark comedy teeters between cheeky humor and violence, overplaying both to varying degrees.
All the proletarian poetry in the world can't save this movie from its blurry mess of mixed motives.
... the [year's] first terrific [film]. ... [N]ot to take anything away from the others [but] the big surprise here is just how hilarious Farrell is.
Feels like two short films bolstered end to end, one a deliciously dark comedy with a heart of gold and the other a less accomplished gangster flick that is too derivative and neatly tied up for its own good.
In Bruges lurches from pretty but uninformative tour-of-the-town footage to static conversations between Ray and Ken, dully framed.
Once the shooting starts, everything collapses, and the ending is the kind that causes head-shaking. It's as if the filmmaker realized he wrote himself into a corner and had to resort to a contrivance to bring things to a close.
Here is an unapologetically irreverent European flick that makes subtle character development as effortless as Colin Ferrell's upward bent eyebrows.
It’s deeply insulting to movie audiences when an award-winning playwright thinks that this sub-Tarantino nonsense carries the essence of cinema in some way.
Not entertainment for the faint-hearted and mindlessly censorious, and in this particularly chaotic period, it seems right in tune with the times. It goes almost without saying that the acting of the three leads is, in a word, splendid.
Nothing more than a modern film noir incongruously set in a medieval city, but...made enjoyable by its unusual locale, tart tough-guy dialogue and a strong cast.
A cold little jolt of cruelty, which is more than most crime thrillers can offer.
Latest News for In Bruges
December 14, 2008:
Boston Film Critics Honor Slumdog, WALL-E
The hardware won't be handed out until February 8, but the winners of this year's Boston Society of Film Critics Awards have been announced -- and they're all listed right here. More...
December 11, 2008:
Golden Globe Nominations Announced
"Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "The Reader," "Revolutionary Road" and "Slumdog Millionaire" battle it out for Best Drama while "Burn After Reading," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "In... More...
November 07, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Was W. Wicked? Is Pride & Glory Proud and Glorious?
This week in the UK cinemas we have Oliver Stones latest presidential dissection, the George W. Bush biopic W. with Josh Brolin in the title role. Also out is Pride & Glory, a... More...
August 15, 2008:
Movie Spots: Brooding, tense, allegorical, quirky, tragic and unbelievably funny, In Bruges may be the most intelligent, introspective and bizarre gangster thriller in quite some time, perhaps ever. ![]()
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