I love gangster films. I especially love British/Irish/Scottish gangster films. While these films generally vary in quality, I usually end up liking the great majority of them, In Bruges is not exception. The story begins when two hitman, Ken (Brendan Gleeson) and Ray (Colin Farrell) are sent on some much needed R&R in Bruges, Belgium by their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes). Bruges, for those of you who don't know (and you can count me as one of those who didn't know), is the best preserved medevil city in Europe. Ken immediately takes a liking to the historical city, while Ray, preferring the fast paced lifestyle of London, is quite bored. The two are on R&R as a result of a hit gone terribly wrong. A phone call from England to the two hitmen begins a chain of events that results in tempers a flaring and bullets a flying.
Wow. I really enjoyed this film. Gleeson, Farrell, and Fiennes all give alternately hilarious and meaningful performances. Colin Farrell has restored my faith in him as an actor after the disastrous Alexander and Miami Vice. I never new that Ralph Fiennes could be so hilarious and while he plays the villain in the movie, so inherently likable. Brendan Gleeson is perhaps one of the most underused actors in film. He's in plenty of movies, but he usually has a smallish supporting role. Gleeson really shines in this part, and I hope it leads to him garnering more leading roles. The plot in this movie is relatively original and the surprise ending definately caught me off guard. I haven't laughed this hard during a movie in a long time, er, well at least since Juno, and the movie is worth seeing for the accented swearing and filthy language alone. Over all, I highly recommend this movie.
Rating: ***
*= Uwe Boll/Michael Bay bad **= Keanu Reevesish ***= Great ****= Fantastic
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