In Bruges

I watched this film On Demand because I had read good reviews. Not a Colin fan, but once I started watching it I couldn't stop laughing. Farrell, Gleeson and Donavan were hysterical. And, it was incredibly witty. If you are a fan of the "F" word, Irish dark humor, not so PC jokes, and irony, you love this film. I actually bought it so I could watch it again and so parents and friends could watch it.

Given that people tend to compare this to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, I was expecting a light, farcical caper. It's not. It's dark and surreal and takes a hard look at guilt and redemption. It also happens to have clever british blokes, lots of criminals, and strange coincidences that move the plot along. And beautiful scenery. Definitely worth a watch.

I caught the trailer for this film probably somewhere around a year ago at the theater and thought that the movie looked interesting but it didn't hit me as a must-see film at the time. After watching the movie I can tell the potential viewer that the trailer to this movie is misleading. I went into this movie very much expecting a comedy. But I would certainly say the dramatic elements of this film are more prevelant than the comedic ones.

This film is more a character piece than anything else. When you watch this movie you will find a movie that analyzes psyches of men one of which is just entering the hitman business and another who is a veteran hitman.

Watch this movie for the strong performances from all the actors and not for the action.

First off: great flick! Colin Farrell delivers in a role practically written for him (not sure if it was or not), and at least partially redeems himself for "Alexander". Brendan Gleeson provides a nice performance as a stoic and pensive hit man, the mature counterpart and partner in crime to Colin Farrell's younger and brash character named Ray. For reasons not exactly clear at first, we learn the two guns for hire have been sent to Bruges to cool their heals and wait for further instructions from the employer, Harry Waters (played very entertainingly by Ralph Fiennes) in Bruges, Belgium of all places.

Now under full disclosure, I have to admit I howled at this movie partially because I lived in Belgium for 3 years and as an outsider, I had many of the same observations as the characters in the movie. Belgium is a strange Germanic-Franco crossroads in Western Europe. The northern half speaks Dutch (or Flemish as they refer to it though the two are basically the same language), is closely linked to the Netherlands culturally and linguistically, but usually isn't too fond of the comparison. The south speaks French and is tightly tied to France through language and culture, and Brussels, the capital, is officially "bilingual," though it's primarily a French-speaking city with English spoken more than Dutch/Flemish (the supposed other language earning its "bilingual" label). Oh yeah, and just as side note, there are about 100,000 German speakers (but Belgian citizens) in the Eastern corner of the country. And because of these frequently at-odds parts of the population, Belgium frequently comes across as a place with a lot of cool cities, but not necessarily a coherent or cohesive country.

And Bruges is definitely one of Belgium's coolest cities, and plenty of folks who have never been to Belgium or Bruges will still find this movie entertaining. Be forewarned it is a BLACK comedy, where death and mayhem take on a comedic as well as tragic value (and there are equal doses of both in the movie). Most of the negative reviews on here seemed to be surprised by the bleakness and I'm guessing for them, it overpowers most of the humour.

So, if you want to learn a little about Bruges, Belgium, through some very enhancing cinematography and the narrative provided by Brendan Gleeson's character, AND be thoroughly entertained by a very British-styled comedy (assuming you can handle the macabre-comedic elements of the movie), check this flick out. Way worth the time.

Colin can't act, no matter how big his eyebrows are. This movie is billed as a comedy action thriller but it's not funny, the action is boring, and I'm not thilled. If it's going to be so watered down, then they should have at least put a little effort into the plot...or added monkeys, lots of monkeys.