Two hit men hide out in an unassuming Belgian town in this thriller, which starts out as a quiet two-character study and then jukes and jives its way to a screamingly violent conclusion. In Bruges is a low-rent Pulp Fiction knockoff, but it’s a knockoff that pays off in spades, with strong, believable acting, excellent cinematography, and a taut, amusing script.
Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) have just completed a rather difficult job and have been ordered by their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) to repair to the idyllic town of Bruges to lay low for up to two weeks. “Two weeks with you?” Ray exclaims to Ken. “No way!” Ray’s a novice to the world of hit-manning, and being as young as he is he’s not too keen to spend two weeks in any spot that’s not teeming with hot women or other fun things to do. Bruges isn’t exactly a Mecca of excitement, you see. On the other hand, the more seasoned Ken is pretty happy with staying in the placid little burg, because it’ll give him time to sightsee and take it easy.
Both men start to believe there’s something else afoot. Why Bruges, after all? They’re Londoners, so why not hide out in London, or even in the English countryside? No, they had to schlep over to Belgium. (There are plenty of Belgian jokes, and a smart dig at Americans that was both accurate and snicker-worthy.) But before Ray can get properly bored, he meets a sweet young lady named Chloe (Clemence Poesy, late of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) working on a movie that’s being filmed right there in Bruges, and he sees a chance to redeem himself for past sins – but apparently Chloe has a few dark secrets of her own.
Gleeson and Farrell are wonderful together, and the film avoids such cliches as the young impetuous hothead and the veteran killer on one last job, and you never get the impression that they’re just a couple of lunkheads who go around killing people randomly. (You know the type: Guy gets tired awaiting further instructions, so he shoots someone to keep in practice.) And of course, nothing goes as Ray and Ken expect it to go. There’s no way, of course, that they’re going to stay the entire two weeks in the podunk town with nothing happening, right? Yeah, probably not.
So they wait around for Harry to call and give them further instructions, and when he does all hell really breaks loose. But setting that aside for the moment, here are some other entertaining aspects of the movie: drug use, gunplay, midgets, and blood. Yes, midgets! Okay, dwarves. And although there’s no dwarf tossing, there is a karate chop to a dwarf’s neck, which is awesome in and of itself.
Another plus is the film is remarkably well shot. Filming on location in the actual town of Brugge in Belgium, cinematographer Eigil Bryld brilliantly juxtaposes the angularity of the buildings and the beauty of the landscapes with the brutality of the men’s violent behavior and coarse language. The pooling of blood on stark, gritty pavement, surrounded by gleaming snowdrifts and the pulchritude and quiet desperation of Bruges itself.
Although not as wittily intelligent as Pulp Fiction, In Bruges is still quite clever – and not too clever for its own good, either. It’s not one of those movies that tosses in funny dialoge just to be funny or so-called twists just to keep the viewer guessing. Two charming, gutsy performances by Gleeson as the unorthodox older man and Farrell as the twitchy younger one boost this one up a notch about the typical caper thriller.
***
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