In his latest film, actor Colin Farell’s character Ray is in a gallery looking at a picture and says,
‘Purgatory is when you’re not really bad and not really good ….. like Tottenham.’
The movie stands a better chance than Spurs of making it to top of the table heaven as it has the creativity of Barcelona and the structure of Chelsea.
Ken and Ray, a pair of Irish hit-men, have been forced to skedaddle from London and are lying low ‘In Bruges’, awaiting instructions from their boss Harry. The father figure of the two, Ken, played by Brendan Gleeson, is using the lay-up to achieve ‘a balance between culture and fun’. However, the city’s medieval architecture is struggling to impress Ray who ponders ‘Maybe that’s what hell is, an entire eternity spent in Bruges’.
The script, written and directed by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, who won an Oscar for the short film ‘Six Shooter’, regularly serves up uncertainties as the characters are exposed to circumstances that could prove to be either purifying or damning. The tension resulting from the imposed spell of quarantine causes explosively rapid fire patter set to the Christmas card background of Bruges.
When the main characters stumble upon a dwarf American on a film set, their plans to sit tight and wait for instructions are peppered with bullets. The subsequent events are chaotic, clever, and surreal. They also boast by original characters in unique scenarios.
The casting is superb and the relationship between the two main characters is thoroughly believable as a father-son dynamic. In the latter stages, Ralph Fiennes swaggers on as the big man and gives a performance that could be the mob-boss lovechild if ‘Sexy Beast’ ever met ‘Snatch’.
The film wears its influences well and is a joy throughout. Like ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ it explores themes of loyalty, morality and powerlessness but it adds intellectual depth and improves the comedy. In one scene Harry is presented with a table full of guns, sees a semi-automatic and comments,
‘An Uzi? I’m not from South Central Los Angeles. I’m not planning on mowing down a bunch of ten year old black kids in a drive-by. I need a normal gun for a normal person.’
It unlikely that would appear in a Tarantino script and it is to Martin McDonagh’s credit that it features In Bruges.
‘Purgatory is when you’re not really bad and not really good ….. like Tottenham.’
The movie stands a better chance than Spurs of making it to top of the table heaven as it has the creativity of Barcelona and the structure of Chelsea.
Ken and Ray, a pair of Irish hit-men, have been forced to skedaddle from London and are lying low ‘In Bruges’, awaiting instructions from their boss Harry. The father figure of the two, Ken, played by Brendan Gleeson, is using the lay-up to achieve ‘a balance between culture and fun’. However, the city’s medieval architecture is struggling to impress Ray who ponders ‘Maybe that’s what hell is, an entire eternity spent in Bruges’.
The script, written and directed by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, who won an Oscar for the short film ‘Six Shooter’, regularly serves up uncertainties as the characters are exposed to circumstances that could prove to be either purifying or damning. The tension resulting from the imposed spell of quarantine causes explosively rapid fire patter set to the Christmas card background of Bruges.
When the main characters stumble upon a dwarf American on a film set, their plans to sit tight and wait for instructions are peppered with bullets. The subsequent events are chaotic, clever, and surreal. They also boast by original characters in unique scenarios.
The casting is superb and the relationship between the two main characters is thoroughly believable as a father-son dynamic. In the latter stages, Ralph Fiennes swaggers on as the big man and gives a performance that could be the mob-boss lovechild if ‘Sexy Beast’ ever met ‘Snatch’.
The film wears its influences well and is a joy throughout. Like ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ it explores themes of loyalty, morality and powerlessness but it adds intellectual depth and improves the comedy. In one scene Harry is presented with a table full of guns, sees a semi-automatic and comments,
‘An Uzi? I’m not from South Central Los Angeles. I’m not planning on mowing down a bunch of ten year old black kids in a drive-by. I need a normal gun for a normal person.’
It unlikely that would appear in a Tarantino script and it is to Martin McDonagh’s credit that it features In Bruges.
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