In Bruges

C

Directed by Martin McDonagh

Martin McDonagh's "In Bruges" takes an interesting premise and talented actors and crafts an overly stylized, talky and for the most part annoying gangster flick.

Irish thugs Ray and Ken are sent to Bruges, Belgium to hide out after Ray accidentally kills a young boy when carrying out a hit for their boss Harry. While in Bruges, Ken decides to sightsee and Ray tries not to lose his mind from boredom. Harry's reasons for sending them to Bruges are soon enough revealed to Ken who is ordered to kill Ray for his transgression.

What could have been an interesting rumination on loyalty, friendship, and guilt is rather turned into a superficial showoff piece for writer/director McDonagh. "In Bruges" strikes me as the type of film that lovers of the horrible "Boondock Saints" probably fawn over. The majority of the scenes in McDonagh's revolve around characters exchanging faux-witty, absurdist dialogue full of pitch black humour in thick Irish accents. The problem is that the dialogue for the most part comes off as awkward, stilted and, most importantly, totally unbelievable while the humour, instead of being dark, is just immature and tasteless. I seriously don't understand who thinks this type of over the top scriptwriting is exciting, edgy, or interesting when done so poorly. To top it all off, what could have been a strong final scene is ruined by some more of McDonagh's prefab dialogue and a telegraphed ending.

"In Bruges" is saved from a total collapse by strong performances from Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes and, yes, even Colin Farrell who does well with the material given to him, giving a taught and energetic performance as Ray.