In Bruges
Sunday, 20 Apr 2008 16:40
Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell stave off boredom while In Bruges
Directed by Martin McDonagh, out now in cinemas, starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, running time 107mins.
In a nutshell…
Bored and brutal in Belgium
What's it all about?
Colin Farrell stars as Ray, a hot-headed hitman who has been forced to flee to Europe after a job gone horribly wrong with Brendan Gleeson's calmer Ken alongside him as they await instructions from lunatic boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes, doing his 'Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast' voice).
With Ray's short attention span only briefly satisfied by drugs, hookers, an unpleasant midget and the sightseeing 'delights' of Bruges, it's only a matter of time before events come to a bloody, bullet-ridden conclusion in this very funny, extremely foul-mouthed effort from Oscar-winning director Martin McDonagh.
Watch the trailer here at inthenews.co.uk:
Who's in it?
Having made his mark in Joel Schumacher's Tigerland, Colin Farrell has made the leap from Ballykissangel to Hollywood leading man with aplomb, stopping to smoke, drink, swear and shag his way through Tinseltown before the birth of son James helped him to calm down a little. Though the critical failure of Alexander coupled with the underwhelming Miami Vice looked set to derail the Irishman's meteoric rise, the upcoming Pride and Glory, stepping into Heath Ledger's shoes in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and putting his superb comic timing on display on In Bruges means Farrell's back where he belongs.
Rada-graduate Brendan Gleeson has filled a career spanning almost 20 years with unfailingly interesting character acting, whether in Braveheart, AI, as 'Mad Eye' Moody in the Harry Potter films and working for the likes of Scorsese, Wolfgang Petersen, Danny Boyle and M Night Shyamalan, and is in heartbreaking form in this hysterically-funny crime caper.
Having won a best short film Oscar in 2004 for Six Shooter, acclaimed playwright Martin McDonagh moves into a lengthier realm with his fantastic feature length debut.
As an example…
"If I'd grown up on a farm and was retarded, Bruges might impress me. But I didn't, so it doesn't." - Ray
"They're filming midgets!" - Ray
" You from the States?" - Ken
"Yeah. But don't hold it against me."- Jimmy
" I won't. Just try not to say anything too loud or crass" - Ken
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars?
Slimmer than a Parisian catwalk model. While it's consistently hilarious and beautifully-acted throughout, and McDonagh does a commendable job in making Bruges look fairly nice, it's so politically incorrect that the Academy could expect protests should they dare to nominate it for any category. That said, it certainly merits a look-in at an award ceremony with a smidgeon more perspective and taste for cinema on its own grounds, such as the Empire awards.
What the others say
"Farrell has brought his A-game to this cracking little comedy-noir written and directed by Martin McDonagh. He is absolutely superb." - Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
"With In Bruges, the British gangster movie gets a Croydon facelift. It may not be new, but it’s a wonderfully fresh take on a familiar genre: f****d-up, far-out and very, very funny." - Damon Wise, Empire
So is it any good?
That depends on your sensibilities. If you don't mind a sweary, sarcastic gangster flick with no notion of good taste, a desire to insult anyone and everyone and principals who are utterly deserving of our sympathy but still very likeable, then a trip to Bruges alongside Ray and Ken will be right up your street. And in the midst of a film flooded with guns, girls and the white stuff is an extremely thoughtful piece concerned with individual responsibility, the difference between right and wrong and the capacity for change. The fact that its exterior mask is one of jokes about midgets and fat people shouldn't deter you from seeking it out.
McDonagh's stage sensibilities seem lost at points with the tone growing decidedly muddled and some uneasy transitions between moments of pure hilarity and those of abject horror.
But with Fiennes in horribly watchable form - and scary in a completely different way to Sir Ben Kingsley's Sexy Beast villain, whose Essex slur he's mimicking - and the banter between Farrell and Gleeson like the interplay of Rosencrantz and Guildernstern had they been denizens of the criminal underworld, it's still a holiday well worth taking.
7/10
Lewis Bazley
Agree with this review? Have a different opinion? Let us know your thoughts (without being too abusive to our poor reviewers please) and we'll post the best ones on the site.
Write your comments below: