I would like to greatly thank the many smart users of Letterboxd for recommending this film to me. Martin McDonagh has succeeded as both a writer and director in many cases, but this film may be my personal favorite of his. In Bruges is an excellent dark comedy that proves itself as a screenwriter's dream. Only McDonagh could have written a script this intensely emotional and bleakly humorous while maintaining a fantastic level of detail and entertainment value. I was not entirely sure what was in store for me as I started this film from Netflix, but I sure am glad that I did.
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play Ray and Ken, two hitmen who have been assigned to lay low in Bruges, Belgium until a botched job blows over. While Ken loves the time spent in this morbid city, Ray is on the verge of losing his sanity, mentally and physically. The chemistry between these two actors is undeniably perfect as they play off of each other very nicely. Even though their two characters display quite the contrast, their relationship is one of the best driving forces throughout this film. The vulgarity and unrelenting honesty that is shared in the scenes between the two is fantastic and humorous. Even though they do not take any prisoners when it comes to using profanity and the way they treat others is not the best, the writing truly makes the audience feel for them more than anything. Similar to how Tarantino's Pulp Fiction got people to sympathize with hitmen on their day off, McDonagh is able to do one better and get people to entirely love these two troubled men. Especially since the botched job that they were hiding from was Ray's first in the field, this movie actually makes hitmen lovable. Farrell's performance is the greatest throughout this film, as he rightfully won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of the young and snarky Ray. Not only was Ray incredibly troubled by what he had accidentally done, he was able to bring so much quick humor and bodily expressions to lighten up the movie's tone and Farrell embodied this excellently. While both Farrell and Gleeson were fantastic, their boss Harry, played by Ralph Fiennes, was great too. He unfortunately did not show up until the third act of the film or so, but since we only heard his voice on the phone, his appearance tied up a lot of loose ends and was exactly what I was expecting.
Martin McDonagh's script for this film is an amazing combination of wisecracking writing and intense, high-stakes drama. This balance of humor and drama was fantastic, as neither had to rely on each other too much to carry a scene. My only issue with this was often times throughout the movie there would be a heavily depressing scene regarding a disturbing backstory that would be sharply interrupted by a joke. The transitions between these moments were often too rough and took me out of my emotions during that current scene. Despite the jolting transitions, the plot of this movie wraps up so nicely. Every single detail is brought full-circle and wraps up very well; I was left putting the pieces back together the moment they happened on screen, which made for a very enjoyable experience. It was also fun to see a movie about hitmen that was not excessively graphic. While there were a few, well-choreographed action scenes, it did not take away from the quirky personalities of these characters and their "vacation." Bruges also plays an obviously large part in developing the story and it actually becomes a character of its own. Aided by McDonagh's smooth directing, these multiple aspects helped the narrative flow beautifully. Like previously mentioned, this movie is absolutely a screenwriter's dream.
In Bruges is an extremely well-written and clever film, as each scene is riddled with emotion and engaging substance. Along with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson's incredible performances and plot points that pay off very satisfyingly, this movie is a great mix of originality and satire of the crime thriller drama.
My Rating: ★★★★½
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