In Bruges is an excellent dark comedy

"In Bruges"
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes
***.5/****

Colin Farrell was supposed to be the next big thing. With recent failures including Miami Vice, and Alexander, many thought Farrell would never be able to re-grasp his bad-boy image, along with his proven acting chops that go back to his debut film, Tigerland, which is also his best performance.

In Bruges is a dark-comedy/action thriller. It walks the tightrope of many different genres, and in the end, writer/director Martin McDonagh has crafted a superb buddy film about two moral hitmen.

Colin Farrell plays Ray, who is new to the hitman business. Ray botched his first assignment, and he and his partner Ken played by Brendan Gleeson are sent to hide out in Bruges for two weeks. They wait for thier boss, Harry, played by Ralph Fiennes to call with further instructions.

The film starts off in Bruges, as the two leads prove to have opposing views of the city. Ken finds its beautiful, enjoying the simple attractions and tourist festivities. Ray is miserable as he doesnt fancy the city nearly as much as Ken.
Bruges plays like a character in the film, it's a medieval town, with a gothic and fairy-tale feel.

The film starts as a buddy comedy of sorts, Ray and Ken are both handling the situation in thier own way. As the film progresses, we learn more about the guilt that Ray has and why. Gleeson is a perfect compliment to Farrell's young and fiery character, Gleeson tries to provide wisdom and ease all situations with his fatherly qualities, keep in mind these are both gangsters.

In Bruges handles the narrative like any other gangster film would, except Ray and Ken are truly three-dimensional characters. They each have thier own moral compass, and code with which they follow, fleshing out thier characters even more.

There are some interesting twists in the 2nd half that don't come across as shallow or pretentious, they progress the plot in a plausible and interesting manner.
What amazed me about the film was how it balanced itself between familiar and original work, as soon as we think we know where the film is headed, it flips the audience on its ear.

The dialogue is tremendous, as writer/director Martin McDonagh proves to be a worthy first time film-maker with an extremely promising future. The score done by Carter Burwell is also tremendous.

Getting back to Farrell, this guy was born to play this frustrated and wiery character. It also helps that the character is Irish, which Farrell obviously is in real life. After some huge misses, Farrell has re-gained his footing and will hopefully continue to do great work from here on out, I've been waiting for this type of performance out of him.

In Bruges is dark, unique, and something fresh. I enjoyed the characters company for two hours, along with the gorgeous backdrop that is Bruges. Please seek this gem out.