In Bruges

Acting I felt

 5

Thanks for the helpful reviews: Flicks and D F Stuckey.

The movie drew me in with feeling and fairy tale despite the verbal and physical violence. The movie is full of ironic humour, such as a hit man saving his target, and flawed characters who are quite ironic in themselves because of those flaws. In this setting, the one flawless character - the pregnant woman - is like a fine jewel in a tawdry setting.

The movie would have been better to have drawn out the bored to death in Bruges theme before introducing death himself. I've seen deleted scenes on the DVD and several should have been kept in the movie. But I guess they wanted to hold onto the audience who couldn't be counted on to wait for the expected action (see PIC_NZ's comment).

By Mark

awesome

 5

i thought this was very good. my friend and i saw it and laughed our heads off. extremely entertaining.

By mj

If you ever thought you weren't a good enough tourist

 5

I always liked that Dorothy Parker line: You can lead a whore to culture... Travel is wasted on some people and with In Bruges we meet the ultimately unworthy tourist.

There are just so many levels to enjoy this movie. It's a must see.

By Deb

 5

Absolutely perfect. I cannot think of a single thing to criticise.

By Jane

I think the Actors were having a laugh at the screenwriters expense.

 3

It was no "Lockstock"

By PIC_NZ

 5

funny as

By Kelly

Great

 4

Both moving and very funny. very enjoyable.

By kate k

 5

Superb

By Agent Orange

Oh, Belgium! Crime Drama In Deep Black Humour

 4

Imagine LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS filmed by Sam Peckinpah from a script by Spike Milligan and Dave Allen and you might get some inkling of this movie; from the first, the casula swearing and cynical asides of Ken (Gleeson) and Ray (Farrell) set their charcaters as the sort of charmers that the IRA sent over to the USA to gain funding - And even when we discorver the brutal nature of their work we still find them likeable. Between the laughter and crass behaviour ( American tourists are victimised mercilessly, offensive jokes are fired at dwarves and Belgians, and the "F" word flows like 'this gay beer' ), and the stunningly violent actions of both our 'heroes' ( One which is literally a jaw-dropper) Gleeson puts forward an avuncular sense of interest in people and is simply divorcing himself from the last job and waiting for the next assignment, while Farrell loathes the place, acts like a sulky teen and is haunted by how hideously his first 'hit' has gone.

Things take a monstrous twist just as Farrell meets a possible romantic interest ( And a racist dwarf . . . ) and Fiennes comes into the scene like a dark vision of the evil within his two hirelings made manifest - despite a Cockney accent so authentic it's hard to reconcile with the urbane Fiennes. Yet of all the shocks and twists of this film, the greatest is that Colin Farrell gives a performance of incredible depth; from charming rogue to violent street punk, from Anti-American troublemaker to loquacious dwarf actor biographer, from petulant youth to victim of circumstance with a painful helplessness in the face of emotional response, he is always believable and even sympathetic - And with some truly memorable lines to deliver which he does in a manner that compares to any of the cast of WAKING NED DEVINE.

Highly recommended and even to those who loathe Farrell on sight - If this will not change your mind about his acting skill, nothing will.

By D F Stuckey