March 8, 2011

# 185 In Bruges (2008)

Suicide

In Bruges is a dark comedy about two hitmen who have to lay low in the city of Bruges, Belgium, after one of them accidentally kills a young boy. Whereas Ken is enjoying the beautiful sights of a medieval city, Ray is devastated and haunted by guilt. Then he starts a romantic relationship with a local girl, and from then on things go as though the creators of the film drew their inspiration from a popular teen comedy EuroTrip.

Alright, maybe they didn't, but still I think the movie is absurd. First of all, since when romanticizing hitmen, and showing how vulnerable they can be is considered funny? The movie is trying to show us that they can be really nice people, with their own feelings, that they can be very sensitive, and as for their job, it's not even a flaw, it's just something they have to do for a living. And of course, when they kill people who didn't really "deserve it", they feel awful. May be I'm taking it too seriously, but as someone who studied criminology and criminal behavior, I can reassure you that professional killers never act the way it was portrayed in the movie. So what part of it was supposed to be funny?

Secondly, Collin Farrell's acting was also pretty annoying. I think that the role of a melancholic guy with this naive look and updrawn eyebrows doesn't fit him at all. And the ending was disastrous. What happened there reminded me of the Wayan's brothers' film Little Man where nobody was able to distinguish between a midget and a child (that movie's rating is 3.6).

As for the good side, Ralph Fiennes acting was alright, and some of his lines were indeed really funny. The film is pretty slow, and that helps create the atmosphere of living in a small town. Finally, the views of Bruges are very pretty. But other than that, I felt like In Bruges wasn't worth the time I wasted on it. But even if you don't agree with me, feel free to express your feelings in the comment form below.

Interesting fact: The film has a total of 4 actors who also appeared together in the Harry Potter series: Ralph Fiennes (Harry), who plays Lord Voldemort; Brendan Gleeson (Ken), who plays Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody; Clémence Poésy (Chloe), who plays Fleur Delacour; Ciarán Hinds (The Priest), who plays Aberforth Dumbledore.
Favorite quote: "An Uzi? I'm not from South Central Los Angeles. I didn't come here to shoot twenty black ten year olds in a drive-by. I want a normal gun for a normal person".

1 comment:

  1. I haven't seen this and I'll probably pass in the future! Happy to see you around today!

    ReplyDelete