In Bruges (2008), Martin McDonagh, A-
This isn’t just a good movie on its own merits, it is absolute panacea in a culture choking on the films of Guy Ritchie and Joe Carnahan and other talented yet stuck-in-neutral filmmakers. In Bruges, a crime thriller that manages to be funny and foul and NOT derivative of Quentin Tarantino! And actually exciting, with a well-thought out ending! And well shot, despite not flinging the camera around all over the place like a crazy person. And really goddamned funny (if I didn’t say that already.)
I skipped this in the theater because I thought I’d seen enough of this type of crap. No. It isn’t like that. This is a quality film with a genuine script and real actors. Definitely a top pick for 08.
Word! I love Martin McDonagh, and this held up very well the second time around, too.
Comment by Jurgen — August 17, 2008 @ 8:44 am
Just watched this last night — good overall, but had trouble with the Fiennes character. Tried way too hard to “humanize” him, without doing the requisite leg-work story wise to make us feel anything for him. He was supposed to be a flawed character: the bad-ass who’s really a nice guy at heart simply living by a hard code of ethics. But it didn’t come off quite that way. Otherwise, it was a lot more fun that I thought it would be. Ferrell comes off a lot better as an actor when he’s simply being his Irish self.
And what a town that must be — surely a vacation spot to consider with the addition of Belgian beer.
Comment by Bill R. — August 18, 2008 @ 7:23 pm