In Bruges

Written & Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson & Ralph Fiennes

I have wanted to see this film since it came out, but unfortunately I was stuck in Florida and it didn’t come out anywhere near me. Well, I had the great pleasure of viewing this film tonight and I loved it. Written and Directed by Academy Award Winner (78th Annual Best Short Film, Live Action) and four time Tony Award Nominee (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lonesome West, The Pillowman, The Lieutenant of Inishmore) Martin McDonagh comes a film about two hit men, Ray (Farrell) and Ken (Gleeson) who have been sent to Bruges, the medieval city in Belgium, by their London boss Harry. The reason they have been sent to Bruges is because Ray has botched the job (or so we think, you have to watch the movie to see that, don’t want to spoil anything.) Basically, Ray and Ken have to wait around until they get a call from Harry (Fiennes) to find out what the next move is. Ray is dealing with messing up the job, Ken is dealing with the orders that have been handed down to him, and Harry just wants everything done. The movie is funny, sad and thrilling all at the same time. Ralph Fiennes gives a great performance in a true supporting role and Brendan Gleeson plays so well against both Fiennes and Farrell, but the true star of this film is Colin Farrell. Say what you will about his film choices in the past, (everyone remembers Alexander and Miami Vice), but Farrell is just plain awesome in this film. When you look at Farrell you don’t expect him to be great at Comedy, but he is. He nails every joke and he has these awesome facial expressions that really make his character come alive. With a very strong script and good direction from first time full length director Martin McDonagh, I tell everyone to go out and rent this film. Its too bad that the Academy will probably look it over in the Lead Actor and Original screenplay categories.

In Bruges - A