by Philip Lop

Created on: September 03, 2010   Last Updated: May 08, 2012

Two hit men, Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are packed off to Bruges by their boss after what can only be described as a "difficult job". Ken takes this as an opportunity to take in some of the medieval culture, but Ray is a little less enthused about the prospect. Whilst taking in some of the sights one evening, they happen across a film set where, amongst other things, Ray spots Chloe, a beautiful young woman who appears to be helping the film crew. After an awkward exchange, Chloe eventually agrees to date him and suddenly, Bruges doesn't seem so bad after all. But when Ken gets a phone call everything changes.

Comedy, crime and thriller are three words that you'll rarely find comfortably in the same sentence, but where In Bruges is concerned, British writer/director Martin McDonagh seems to have found a comfortable compromise. In Bruges is an intricately layered tale of different themes, expertly crafted in just the right way to find that balance between pace and atmosphere, and, with the striking beauty of a medieval city thrown in for good measure, it's no surprise that this sits within the top films of all time voted on the Internet Movie Database.

The comedy works in a number of different ways, capably administered via a bitingly sharp script. Given the premise and some of the action that takes place here, it might at face value seem like a strange story to laugh at, but in a very typically British way, McDonagh uses humour to diffuse what might otherwise be a distressing back story. The film contains almost the entire spectrum of comedic styles, from sarcastic wit to absolute slapstick and as such, the audience is likely to find itself smiling, chuckling to itself and occasionally laughing out loud in response. It won't be to every taste. When Ken tells Ray that they will be striking a balance between fun and culture, Ray replies with, "Somehow I believe, Ken, that the balance shall tip in the favour of culture, like a big fat retarded f*g black girl on a see-saw opposite a dwarf." See what I mean? Regardless of the different types of comedy, this is without any doubt an adult comedy through and through.

In Bruges is a film about life and death, told rather demonstratively via our two leading characters. These are two men whose very profession deals in the absolute extremes but this obvious fact aside, there's a number of more human stories going on here. Ken, for example, is the mature, worldly-wise one, but there's an inherent

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>