Review of In Bruges (2008) by Mrmoviebuff — 23 Feb 2017

'In Bruges' is a deliberately paced, slow-burning, and at times, uninteresting comedy. Filled with characters that I did not seem to care for, and a plot that made the film feel at least two times longer than it should have.

Colin Farrell plays an Irish hitman named Ray, whose order was to originally kill a priest, but he accidentally killed a young boy while during his task. He, and his mentor, Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are sent to Bruges to wait for their next task and instructions.

Ken seems to love the city and plans to go sightseeing, but Ray feels indifferent, and at times, is very cynical about the whole thing. Their employer, Harry (Ralph Fiennes) is furious and wants Ken to kill Ray, after coming to the conclusion that Ray killing a child is unforgivable.

The movie, directed by Martin McDonagh, has its fair share of some well-thought out scenes, and is crafted the best that it can. However, I found myself to be uninterested in any of the characters and/or events that occur throughout this film.

It got very little laughs from me. Colin Farrell is excellent as the sometimes nervous character, Ray, and he shares some excellent screen-time with his co-star, Brendan Gleeson, but ultimately, these great performances weren't enough to keep me invested.

It's a mechanical and manufactured comedy, filled with some uplift, but the run-time drags and things escalate towards the third act, but it was too late for me, as whatever interest I had in the movie, was already gone.

An admirable effort, but it could have been better.