It’s a shame that the trailer for In Bruges makes it look like just another Pulp Fiction knockoff. It’s a lot more than a mere shadow of a better movie.
Colin Farrell stars as Ray, a neurotic hit man who has majorly fucked up a job, who goes to lie low with his partner, Jimmy (Brendan Gleeson), in the preserved Old World tourist town of Bruges, Belgium. Ray, however, is bad at lying low, and thus shenanigans ensue.
Along their wild ride, they meet a ridiculously attractive Belgian woman named Chloe and a snarky dwarf with a thing for hookers.
The tagline is “Shoot first, sightsee later.” Oh, and Farrell’s frequently irate boss, Harry, is played by Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).
Right.
In Bruges is, as mentioned before, far smarter, richer and more darkly funny than its advertisements let on. What at first appears to be a simple story about the mishaps of three gun-toting protagonists and their relationships turns out to be much more complex. Farrell, Gleeson and Fiennes all operate at a higher acting caliber than is usual for them, bringing sympathy and horror to their characters.
Writer-director Martin McDonagh is originally a playwright, and his theatrical sensibility translates beautifully to film. The characters are instantly distinguished without being gimmicky, and the dialogue pops without ever falling victim to stylization. There are lines both funny and serious that are so delightfully snapped off they’ll stick in your mind for weeks.
Speaking of which, the constant shifting between and blending of the comedic and the dramatic are really what sets In Bruges apart from the pack, touching on themes of death and morality that bring us disturbingly close to hit men. McDonagh’s experience as a playwright helps him out here too: The thoughts he has to impart to us are direct, engaging and not Hollywood-ized. Not even a bit.
And there are some straight-up belly-laugh moments as well. The dinner scene between Ray and Chloe comes to mind, as does the scene when the temperamental Harry destroys his office phone in front of his weary wife. (“Harry, it’s an inanimate object.” “You’re an inanimate fucking object! “)
Still, most of the humor here is bleak, dark yet introspective, and thought provoking on a level rare for movies of this ilk.
Which is not to say that In Bruges ever falls into the trap of being so weighty that it crashes upon its viewers’ heads. McDonagh is intent on being hilarious, and he largely succeeds, a fact in no small part owed to the deliciously quirky and nuanced supporting cast that gives the gritty script its wings.
There’s a lummox of a Belgian thief who gets blinded by Ray with his own blank-filled gun (“I can’t fucking see!” “Of course you can’t fucking see, I just shot a blank in your face!”), an Eastern European arms dealer who can’t stop yapping about architecture, and a snippy death-defying bed and breakfast proprietor, among others.
The character of Chloe also deserves special mention for being one of the most hardcore females in any crime flick whose character doesn’t rely on being aggressively butch or shrewish to make her tough. She is thoroughly and believably feminine, while simultaneously being a total badass. Also, the attraction that buds between her and Ray doesn’t seem contrived.
But the beautiful finishing touch of In Brugescomes from the interaction the movie has with its namesake setting. While Bruges’ tourist location is certainly touched on for laughs (a “non-fight” Ray has with some obese New Yorkers is one of the funnier bits of physical comedy I’ve seen lately), the melancholy piano-and-strings soundtrack and lush cinematography capture a gorgeous Old World feel that perfectly augments the somber tone pulsing through the movie’s veins. McDonagh shoots for a darker, deeper theme than plain old irony, and it works.
As a side note, the stark un-political correctness of In Bruges deserves some mention. I understand that hardened hit men are unlikely to use the most up-to-date inoffensive terminology, but lines like “Stop being such a little gay man!” and “If I’d grown up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me” are just numerous enough to get a little irksome. Still, it’s only enough to charge the film with insensitivity at most.
In Bruges might not be for everyone, but for anybody into the synergy of dark comedy and thoughtful gunplay, it should be virtually required viewing.
In Bruges plays as part of Portland International Film Festival on Feb. 8 in the Whitsell Auditorium and opens at various Portland theaters on Feb. 15.