After a difficult job leaves them a bit in the lurch, hitmen Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) find themselves sent to Bruges, Belgium to wait for a phone call from their London boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) telling them what to do. While there they walk the medieval streets and explore the local landmarks with equal parts appreciation and concern, unsure if these few days out of England will be nothing more than a quiet holiday or the last they’ll walk upon the earth.

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in Focus Features' In Bruges

Ray in particular is having a rough time, the damage done by his bullets back home still haunting him in ways he can’t quite put into words. But after meeting local girl Chloe (Clemence Poesy) his outlook on life begins to change, Ken quickly coming to the realization he must protect his friend maybe even at the cost of his own life.

With Harry suddenly in town, a recently blinded thief dogging their every step and a dwarf American actor (Jordan Prentice) arguing with them about a coming race war, these two killers are quickly discovering they no longer like pulling the trigger. But the choice to leave the safety on and the silencer at home might not be theirs to make, and if either of them hopes to make a difference in this world the only rational thing to do might just be to run.

While it is highly unfortunate that writer and director Martin McDonagh doesn’t craft a workable conclusion to his feature-length debut, I still can’t help but admit I just loved In Bruges. Funny, romantic, touching and beguilingly surreal, this tragic crime comedy is a consistently winning joy I couldn’t take my eyes off of. From the delightful first few moments of Ray and Ken bickering in their tiny hotel room I knew I was hooked, and even though I was a tad saddened by the frenzied haphazard chaos of the last act the film contained just enough marvels of inspired invention for me not to care.

It all begins with the casting. Farrell, a great, highly underrated actor so much of the time, delivers one of his most complicated and complete performances, inhabiting the sadly tortured bright-eyed Ray with delicately endearing aplomb. Gleeson matches him, his ultimate decisions both utterly believable and genuinely affecting. The great character actor Zeljko Ivanek pops up in a highly memorable cameo as a Canadian tourist, while Prentice steals just about every scene he’s in delivering many of the film’s funniest lines and most touching moments. As for Posey, her smile electrifies the screen, and every scene between her and Farrell is easily one for the romantic time capsule.

Then there is Fiennes. This guy knocks it out of the park time after time and this picture is no exception. From his almost an octave too high vocal inflections to the way he ambles down a cobblestone street this is a striking piece of work, his Harry holding so fast to his own convictions that even being told to his face his own Machiavellian adequacies doesn’t sway him from the course of action he’s set out for himself. It’s maybe the first truly great performance of 2008, the only pity being that by the time next year’s Oscars roll around it will unfortunately be forgotten.

I just wish McDonagh could have held it all together. While the first two thirds are nuanced and precise, the climax is muddled and belligerently confused. It doesn’t coalesce into a satisfying whole, and while the last scenes are refreshingly (and suitably) ambiguous getting to that point is almost an unfortunate disaster of gunfire and chaos ill-suited to the movie surrounding it. It’s actually kind of disappointing, the rapturous highs of so much of this dulled by the peculiar inadequacies of fifteen or so measly little minutes. 

Which makes me all the more glad I was still able to walk out of the theater in still such a grandly wondrous mood. The filmmaker’s dialogue crackles with profane sizzle, while the moralistic underpinnings of his protagonists are suitably dark, twisted and complex. Better, McDonagh turns the city into an important player all its own, the director making every nook, cranny and, yes, alcove an important character all unto itself making the violently funny In Bruges a place well worth visiting.

Film Rating: êêê (out of 4) 

Additional Links:

-  In Bruges Theatrical Trailer