In Bruges – DVD Review

Once upon a time, Colin Farrell could’ve been one of the biggest actors in Hollywood. With several hits under his belt, and being a young actor with an accent that brought in women by the bus, Farrell had all the makings of being a commercial actor who made commercial projects. But instead he took the path not chosen and has since honed his acting talents, quietly becoming one of the best at his craft, with a series of indy projects scattered in between the rare studio film. While he may have done Miami Vice for the money, and Alexander for the glory of awards season, his best work has come off the radar. In 2008 he continued the trend with the crime comedy In Bruges.

Farrell is Ray, a hit man from Ireland sent to Bruges with his partner Ken (Brendan Gleeson) after a botched hit. Their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) is displeased with the aftermath and sent the two to the Belgian city to lay low for two weeks. Now Ray and Ken have to find ways to amuse themselves in the city while Harry plots their next move. Ray finds the city and its architecture boring, preferring Dublin and city life to the rustic charm of Bruges. Ken enjoys the sights, and the two clash in wildly comedic ways over it leading to a blood-soaked finale involving a midget, a hooker, a couple of two-bit cons and Harry’s sense of honor.

In Bruges works because it takes the concept of the screwball comedy to a whole other level of weird goodness. The setup is quirky, as well as the events of the film, but everyone plays it completely straight as if this sort of goofiness is normal. The ability of the cast to play off everything makes the film worthwhile to watch.

It’s a slow-moving film and Martin McDonagh, in his debut feature, knows that a film that moves slow has to have good characters and be interesting to keep a snail’s pace and he develops his characters wonderfully throughout. There are little bits and large bits he uses to bring about his characters; Ray and Ken have certain quirks that end up looming large later in the film and it’s something to behold to watch them work.

McDonagh keeps it lively by taking advantage of the scenery as well. Shot on location for the most part, the film looks beautiful and the scenery makes it easy enough to watch. It has a charm to it that makes it almost another character in the film. It’s a stunning debut and a markedly funny film.

Presented in a Dolby Digital sound, with a widescreen presentation, the film looks and sounds wonderful. A small budget release, it looks as good as any major motion picture released by a studio and the transfer brings it out wonderfully.

Deleted Scenes, as well as a couple extended scenes, are included with a Gag Reel. Nothing in these add much to an already terrific film, but it is interesting to see 20 minutes or so of material that didn’t make it in.

When in Bruges features Martin McDonagh and his perspective on the film. Having actually visited Bruges on vacation, and felt both perspectives of his main characters, wrote a screenplay based on it and thought it’d interesting to put a couple people into that situation. It’s an interesting 10 minute piece but ultimately doesn’t provide a lot of good information.

Strange Bruges is a piece about the town itself. Everyone loved the city itself, apparently, and the piece touches on the “film within a film” motif McDonagh develops later in the film.

A Boat Trip Around Bruges is a filmed trip through the city, with a piano in the background and a history of the city in subtitles.

F**king Bruges is a collection of every scene with profanity in it. It’s interesting to realize how much profanity is in the film.

The extras may not be as strong as the film, but In Bruges is one of the better films of 2008 that few have seen (but should).

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Focus Features presents In Bruges. Written and Directed by Martin McDonagh. Starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes. Running time: 107 minutes. Rated R. Released on DVD: June 24, 2008. Available at Amazon.com.