In Bruges

2 Irishmen walk into a Belgian bar. The start of a bad joke? No, a snippet of one of the funniest, quirkiest and most original black comedies in recent history. Prepare for an epic ride featuring drug dealers, hitmen and film-star midgets.

Currently the most youthful movie on my blog, In Bruges was released in 2008 under the direction of Irish playwright and film newcomer Martin McDonagh, and went onto win a British Independent Film Award, an Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild Award, a BAFTA, and earned critical acclaim, particularly for it's screenplay. The movie features Colin Farrel & Brendan Gleeson as Ray & Ken respectively. They're 2 hitmen who are ordered to travel to Bruges, Belgium by their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) to hide out after one of their jobs goes awry. They sit tight and wait until Harry calls with further instructions. With the 2 of them having very different opinions of Bruges, we get some of the funniest dialogue and most entertaining performances of the last decade.

The movie opens with Ray & Ken arriving in Bruges, & already the movie starts throwing funny lines at us. This is gonna be a riot!

Ken is immediately taken with Bruges, enjoying the buildings and the history. Ray on the other hand, is less than impressed by his new surroundings, and remains withdrawn and cantankerous. The comically mismatched pair wait for Harry's call, while they try to find some middle ground, things that both of them enjoy while in Bruges. Eventually Ken receives Harry's call, and the instructions he is given take him completely by surprise, and set in motion a series of events that spiral towards the movies decidedly dark and twisted ending.

Thank you for calling the Telstra Helpline, please hold...

That's pretty much it. The movie revolves around the interactions between Ken and Ray, the other people they meet while in Bruges, and the bizarre situations they find themselves in. The movie is all about the witty lines. Like Airplane, Blazing Saddles or The Dead Parrot Sketch, this is one of those comedies where almost ever line is infinitely quotable. The dialogue is hilarious. The film provides a multitude of set-ups for great jokes, and takes advantage of every single one of them. You may think that the moment coming up is going to be entirely serious, but then the script will drop a little comedic gem. All the main characters have some spectacular line. Ralph Fiennes (in typical pernicious form) delivers some especially facetious moments.

Like Beavis & Butthead Do America, I could quote this film all day, but that would take up a LOT of space. But this review needs wrapping up, so that's what I'll do.

The characters are hilarious, the scenarios are hilarious, the screenplay is hilarious, and when the film takes it's dark turn, we get some of the most gritty and intense confrontations as our heroes find themselves trapped in a fight for their lives. If you want a film that seamlessly combines laugh-out-loud humour and bleak, commoving drama, then look no further.