Rating: 7.5/10 (breakdown: 2+3+2+0.5, see scoring guideline here; the last bonus 1/2 point is for how hilarious its script is)
I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about this movie from my boyfriend so I checked it out. It turns out to be a not-your-so-typical type of crime thriller (it’s more of a comedy with dark twists). Overall, I really enjoyed the movie (and laughed a lot) but I didn’t like its ending.
**Spoilers Alert**
The movie has an Irish accent that takes time to get used to, but once you do, it somehow makes the movie even more hilarious. My boyfriend actually spoke with an Irish accent for several days after revisiting the movie with me. I guess the Irish accent also gives the movie its own signature, like how the Scottish one gives Trainspotting one.
In Bruges is about two killers (Ray and Ken, played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) keeping a low profile in Bruges (One of the most classic lines in this movie is: “Where the fuck is Bruges?” “It’s in Belgium.”) after Ray accidentally killed a little boy while on his first duty. Ray hates Bruges, thinking it’s boring and not his cup of tea, whereas Ken loves the place, even lying to their boss Harry (played by Ralph Fiennes, also famous for his role of Voldemort :P) that Ray thinks Bruges is like a fairytale. It turns out that Harry doesn’t trust Ray anymore and wants Ken to kill Ray. Apparently Ken thinks otherwise, after ironically finding out that Ray is suicidal (he even stops Ray from killing himself). Ken thinks Ray should be given another chance because he is a good kid. One of the many things that make this movie special is how much these killers talk to each other, even to the point of revealing every feeling and thought. In other words, these killers are not sneaky at all but rather cathartic (Ray and Harry even plan out the way they are going to carry out their shootout scene!).
The ending is rather senseless–almost everyone dies with Ray having a shot at being rescued (but not much). Also, the last 15 or so minutes are noticeably darker and bloodier than the rest of the movie, which can be a sharp twist and a little bit awkward.
That being said, I don’t think this movie is set out to educate but rather entertain us (in a good way). All of the characters are very interesting, especially the dwarf, who uses horse tranquilizer to shoot up himself and does the most racist cocaine talk (but still somehow staying in the boundary and being hilarious at the same time). There is also this Russian (?) gun supplier who is ridiculously funny. He just goes on and on about “alcoves” 😀
I think after the movie, many people will want to visit Bruges and experience its fairytale-like atmosphere, despite the fact that the movie is shot in mostly dark colors.
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