Four Stars: In Bruges

Movie: In Bruges

Released: 2008

Stars: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes, Jordan Prentice

Reason for Watching: John asked if I wanted to go see it.

I Can Name This Movie In One Note: A dark action comedy about two contract killers who go to Bruges after an assignment to wait for further instructions.

You Should See This Movie Because: I’ve decided Colin Farrell is Clive Owen, but with a less morbid sense of humor.  At any rate, he’s underrated, probably due to his poor movie choices (though Phone Booth is great, goshdarnit), and you’ll love him in this.  All of the main characters, actually, are pretty interesting.

The movie does an excellent job effectively dancing around genres.   There are several genuinely funny scenes in the film, but they don’t turn the dramatic action into a farce.

You Shouldn’t See This Movie Because: Might be a tad too dark for some people.  For example (Mild Spoiler Alert!), the movie doesn’t exactly have a storybook ending.  Also, if you really like Bruges, you might be offended.

It obviously doesn’t bother me, but there are one or two plot devices some people might find to be a bit too convenient.  Also, the story is a tad sparse on a few occasions.

Bottom Line: 2008 is hopefully shaping up to be a solid year for movies, so it seems a bit premature to put the movie into any best-of races, but In Bruges is a really enjoyable movie, and I heartily recommend it.