In Bruges (2008)

So the basic story of In Bruges is this. Ray (Colin Farrell) whilst on his first job as a hired killer, manages to not only kill his target, but also accidently shoots a child dead. He and his colleague and friend Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are then sent to Bruges by their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) for reasons that are not made clear until later in the film, but is assumed to be to hide out until the heat from the killing dies down. While in Bruge ray meets a woman he begins to date and befriends a dwarf. This may not sound like the setting for one of the funniest films for the year, but it really is. Indeed when my family walked in whilst I was watching it and I told them it was an Irish comedy, the news was met with raised eyebrows and incredible distrust.

However, due to an incredibly strong script this film never feels disjointed between the comedic elements and the aspects which are deadly serious. I'd never really thought much of Colin Farrell as an actor before watching this film, but he plays Ray with both the cockiness of a young kid after his first job, and the naivity and fragility of someone with deep emotional issues. Brendan Gleeson is of course fantastic and shows us once again that he is one of Ireland's most diverse actors, Even Ralph Fiennes manages to do comedy very well whilst maintaining an intense frightening persona throughout.

This is a film that you will end up quoting endlessly, though I may suggest that you don't do so with people who either don't know you or the film, as hearing someone ordering a 'Gay Beer' or talking about someone's 'Cunt Children' could cause unintended offence. Indeed much of this film could be deemed offensive to the wrong ears. Talks throughout the film about Midgets and Ray recounting the only fact he seems to know about midgets which is that they have a disproportionately high suicide rate are, when in the context of the film, incredibly funny and meant without malice.

I think perhaps one of the reasons that this film didn't cause more of a stir when it was released was the simple reason that it managed to slip under the radar somehow, perhaps because of the confusion about what genre it was supposed to be, or perhaps for whatever reason, but this film completely passed me by when it was released, only to be picked up later on DVD. It's a crying shame though because this film is incredibly well shot too. Whilst most comedies focus more on their script and ignore any artistic filmmaking, In Bruges, perhaps due to the fact that it is more of an action drama with very funny moments rather than a full on comedy, manages to hold its own artistically. Most notably in the final sequences with characters running through the streets of Bruges, it looks fantastic, and it would have been wonderful to see this on the big screen. 

Writer/Director Martin McDonagh has a new film out next year called Seven Psychopaths. It, along with the New Andrew Dominik film, are on my radar as must see films. If it's anywhere near as good as this it'll be awesome.