BROWSE
ARCHIVES

In Bruges realizes a simple truth that is becoming increasingly overlooked in the film industry: a good comedy is one where you legitimately care what happens to the characters.  With this concept in mind, Martin McDonagh has created something truly remarkable.  This is by far the funniest movie of the year.  It has some of the funniest violence, slapstick witticisms, and raunchiest tenderness I have ever seen in a movie.  It realizes that all these seeming oxymorons, needn’t be.

The acting ensemble of this movie is one of my favorites of the year.  The unlikely team of Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson flesh out a remarkable dynamic onscreen.  They create an atmosphere that cries out buddy film, but let’s the two characters maintain just enough distance on screen to still allow for both characters to be explored very distinctively.  Both portray their characters fluidly, with very little time spent meandering about the camera in the act of self-contemplation.  These are hit men, not poets; it works perfectly.  Also noteworthy is the typically understated Ralph Fiennes.  Fiennes plays Farrell and Gleeson’s boss, a temperamental lunatic, and unlike many of his previous roles, does it with such gusto.  Watching Fiennes was just as much intentionally unsettling as it was pure fun.  Lastly, Jordan Prentice is noteworthy more as a device than an actor.  His character was certainly only necessary to move the plot along, although it is good to see that midgets in the industry haven’t lost any ground since Buñuel’s That Obscure Object of Desire (1977).

In Bruges has a particular vibe that is holly original.  The screenplay is brilliantly hysterical.  It is wonderfully dry, yet allows for countless moments that truly justify audible laughing.  This is without a doubt, the best comedy of the year.  It is undeniably dark, but the movie is by no means about violence.  Violence is merely something that exists within the lives of these characters. It doesn’t make them any less human, it only makes them feel more delicately mortal on screen.  At any time, we know that any one of the characters might die.  They know it too, and maybe that’s why they all can maintain such a splendid opposition to taking life too seriously.

I’ve been asked to describe In Bruges several times now.  All I can say is that at times it could be described as a scaled down British version of a Quentin Tarantino film.  Unlike Tarantino though, it manages to maintain tenderness even in its most violent moments.  When it comes down to it though, this movie is so much fun to watch because it just happens to be a damn good movie.  It represents great writing, great acting, and flawless execution.  It has no single genre, which is why it feels so much like real life.  There are moments of utmost hillarity only to be followed by those of terrible tragedy.  In between, it’s a joy to experience every annoyed or apathetic plea from the characters for life to start moving again.  It’s most fun when Farrell is anxiously awaiting the next major development, and Gleeson is swaggering along, simply absorbing the beauty of the respite between each action.

I loved this movie.  It’s everything a movie should strive to be.  I await your next feature with baited breath, Mr. McDonagh.

-Paul Brinnel

Hear, hear. I completely agree with you about the brilliance of this dark comedy. From the tastefully done violence to the performances of the actors. One must say that Ralph Fiennes was smart to take a leaf out of Ben Kingsley’s book regarding his performance as Harry. (Ever seen Sexy Beast?)
I must say that I enjoyed the movie for every reason you stated, and for others like the camera work and the score. Great blog Paul!

Comment by Alicia Cavanaugh 02.18.09 @ 6:31 pm