International actors working in Hollywood can often charm and persuade us when featured in big-budget blockbuster films. But in movies that showcase their best qualities in their native tongues--or accents--with scripts closer to wherever they call home, they sometimes shine and dazzle in ways that astound us. That seems to be the case with Colin Farrell as the emotionally wired Irish hit-man Ray in director Martin McDonagh's dark and twisted comedy, In Bruges.

If Farrell has made a name for himself (not to mention some very decent salaries) based more on his "hunk factor" and previous bad-boy image than his talent, his performance in this film reveals him to be a gifted actor indeed. Arguably, it may very well be his finest since his turn as the American soldier Private Roland Bozz in director Joel Schumacher's troubling war film, Tigerland. His role for In Bruges could not be more different. As the comfortably Irish-brogue speaking Ray, he joins fellow hit-man Ken (performed brilliantly by Brendan Gleeson of Harry Potter fame) for his first kill in the small elegant city of Bruges in Brussels. Naturally it goes all wrong and in the course of murdering his intended target--a priest, actually--he accidentally kills a child.

Whereas he feels no remorse over killing the priest, who may or may not have been guilty of some monstrous transgression, the death of the child breaks a code of hit-man honor for which Ray cannot forgive himself. Neither can Ralph Fiennes as Harry Waters, the man who hired him. Distraught and suicidal, Ray nevertheless pursues a romance with the beautiful Chloe (Clemence Poesy) whom he considers a wonderfully nice girl because in her own drug-dealing way she's every bit as gangster as he is. She even forgives him when he steals her illicit stash of pharmaceuticals and goes on a partying binge with partner Ken and the aloofly arrogant movie star dwarf named Jimmy, played impressively by Jordan Prentice.

As amazingly weird and macabre as In Bruges is, the movie in its essence--right up to the shocking end-- is mostly about exercising respect for established principles, and the struggle to preserve a sense of innocence in a world where innocence is literally murdered every day. Like Farrell, Gleeson and Fiennes deliver exceptional performances in their portrayals of complicated characters who are brutally ruthless and yet, at the same time, unnervingly sensitive and emotionally vulnerable. We somehow find ourselves empathizing with them when probably we should be denouncing them, and laughing when it might make more sense to shed a tear or two.


by Author-Poet Aberjhani
author of The American Poet Who Went Home Again
and Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World

Splendid performances by Colin Farrell, Brendon Gleeson (who played a spy in "Sleepers") and Ralph Fiennes as well as a solid story and magnificent cinematography lift this sometimes bloodstained film from the ranks of the ordinary thriller. Both Farrell and Gleeson's portrayals of paid assassins, in whom the charming canals, bridges, and gabled houses of Bruges engender a sense of conscience--and, ultimately, redemption--are worthy of Academy Awards; and Ralph Fiennes is also excellent in what for him constitutes an offbeat role as the unrelenting crime-boss who acts according to his own brutal code of conduct.

I was particularly struck by Farrell who was playing a character that in less skilled hands might seem both whiny and unsympathetic; his moving portrayal demonstrates both his superior acting skill and artistry (which were not evident in the material he was given in "Alexander the Great").

The cinematography, which focuses not only on the enchanting Belgian city--which rivals Amsterdam as the "Venice of the North"--but also on the magnificent art in its museum, provides an appropriate background for the story, in which the two assassins have come to Bruges for some special purpose, the nature of which they do not, at first, understand. The cinematographer has utilized the stark religiosity of the Flemish paintings, with their themes of torture and deliverance, to mirror the emotions of the unconventional protagonists.

Although the film has its comic moments, I think it does it a disservice to term it a dark comedy. It is more akin to a tragedy, the best of which use comedy to relieve the tension built up during the course of the action. While the film is certainly not for children, it is highly recommended for discerning adult viewers who want more than simplistic action and car-chases in their thrillers.

In this brilliant, original deadpan thriller, two Irish hitmen, one young, the other older, take refuge in the beautiful Belgian city of Bruges. Gradually, we learn what they are running away from. While they wait for instructions, they explore the city which the older one finds entrancing and the younger one finds boring.
I can't tell much more about this movie without giving away the plot. Suffice to say that it's often very funny, has several truly surprising plot twists and that the backdrop is gorgeous and the acting superb. This is a thriller that really stretches the genre. You get inside the skin of the characters, seeing each for their strengths and vulnerabilities. Yes, even professional murderers have souls. Truly superior entertainment.

Having never been a huge fan of pinup Colin Farrel who most of all look like a hairy version of the midgets his character is so fascinated by in this movie I went into this movie with rather low expectations and that might in part explain my excitement with the movie.

This low paced low budget movie is so full of wit and brilliant lines that it makes more than up for the rather slow pace and predictable story line.

The interaction between the two main characters is brilliant as they both struggle with their chosen profession as hit men. The midget sub-theme is absolutely amazing not the least in the scene when they are under the influence of a multitude of drugs. Their well dressed heavily swearing boss (even American movies will find it hard to give the F word as much prominence as in the message left at the hotel!) best moment is when he gives the small time smug a lecture shortly after the poor guy has lost his vision on one eye is classic.

The movie is thoroughly entertaining and beautiful in its own little way.

Pan in on a sun filled view of a bridge crossing over into an architecturally diamond of a town which is magnificently beautiful yet unfamiliar to many called Bruges. Place Colin Farrell as a boyishly shy and strikingly handsome assassin who hates Bruges along with his bubbly savoring sight seeing cohort Brendan Gleeson. Then toss in a most hysterical yet drab controlling and humanely emotionless boss Ralph Fiennes and we have the 3 central characters. But wait, let's not forget the dwarf in his school boy attire as well as a sexy secretive blonde who catches Colin's eye as much as the river roadways catches Brendan's. What we have is a dryly humored plot with such laughs and heartbreakingly sad twists and turns that ends with...

You wouldn't want me to give away the whole story now...would you? I won't.

I first downloaded it from I-Tunes but needed to see it on our large screen TV so I bought it from Amazon. I must say I love packaging as well as having the dvd to bring over friend's homes to watch. "...ain't nothing like the real thing baby..." You'll watch it again and again.

If you love Colin Farrell you must see:
Alexander, Revisited - The Final Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

If you adore Brendan Gleeson you'll adore him in:
Black Irish

If you think Ralph Fiennes is also fantastic see:
Red Dragon - Collector's Edition