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Hitmen and high jinks

By Kelly Jane Torrance
February 8, 2008

Colin Farrell (left) and Brendan Gleeson (right)Êstar in Martin McDonagh's IN BRUGES.

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Watching a trailer for "In Bruges," you might wonder just what sort of film this is. Is it a comedy? A gangster flick? A drama? A thriller? A farce?

Yes, it is — all of the above.

And somehow, it works.

"In Bruges" is the feature film debut of London-born Irish playwright Martin McDonagh,who won the Oscar for best live-action short two years ago. With this practically perfect film, he's made an auspicious debut, combining satire and sensibility to make a hilarious but touching movie quite unlike anything else at the multiplex this season.

Irish actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are Ray and Ken, two hitmen who are ordered to cool their heels for a spell in the Belgian city of Bruges after they've done a job. London boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) tells them to stay put until he calls in further instructions.

Bruges, we're told, is the most well-preserved medieval town in the whole country. The middle-aged Ken is content to bide his time, excitedly exploring the churches and castles by day and waiting by the telephone by night. The younger, more volatile Ray isn't so patient. Sightseeing bores him, and he wants to high-tail it back to the big city: "If I'd grown up on a farm and was retarded, Bruges might impress me, but I didn't, so it doesn't."

Ray doesn't have to wait too long for some excitement — a little too much excitement. He and Ken come across a film crew one night. "They're filming midgets!" Ray excitedly exclaims. (I told you it was part farce.) He falls for a production assistant-cum-drug dealer named Chloe (Clemence Poesy),who's something of a con artist herself.

As the exasperating but somehow loving relationship between the two men unfolds, it becomes clear that something went very wrong in the hit back in Britain. And when Harry finally calls, demanding that it be made right, the scene is set for both capers and calamity.

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