First things first, the title city is pronounced brooges, which makes it sound a lot cooler. Also, this movie was actually released (limited) about a month ago, and is just now getting into theatres nationwide after a strong showing at a few film festivals. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, on to the actual review.

The Plot
In short, Collin Farrell (Ray) and Brendan Gleeson (Ken) are hitmen who have a job gone horribly wrong (a little kid dies…it happens in the beginning, so I didn’t ruin anything for you). Anyways, their boss (Harry), tells them go to Belgium to this “fairy tale of a city” called Bruges and await further instructions. The town is one of those medieval towns in the middle of nowhere, which pleases Ken since he loves history, but drives Ray up the wall since he just wants to get drunk and party (it is Colin Farrell after all).

While in hiding, you see the lives of both of these guys and you learn a couple things. One, Ken is way smarter than Ray (no surprise there). Two, Ray really regrets that boy dying, and it begins to haunt the hell out of him. Three, Colin Farrell probably showed up drunk to the audition and it worked out perfectly. He also never opened the screenplay nor learned a single line from the script; he decides to wing it instead.

Colin Makes the Movie
Before this movie, I had a few perceptions of Colin Farrell. For the most part, I used to think he was a badass. I mean, he was this “always partying and screwing someone hot” type of guy that, as a male, you envied, and as a female, you wanted to be with (or so I can assume). But then for a few years his story got old. He wasn’t doing anything important (Miami Vice? Really?) and he just faded in and out of the spotlight.

After seeing this movie, I’m back on the bandwagon and holding on tight. It’s not that he puts on a memorable or inspirational performance, it’s just that you can tell he didn’t read a single line of the script, decided to drink all day instead, and still makes his character believable. In all honesty, it seems like the character was made for him. While his counterpart wants to take in the sights while they’re hanging out, all he wants to do is hit the bars, do some blow, get in a fight and find some tail. Does this not sound like a typical Friday night for Colin? The only downfall to his performance is when he tries to call, because really, it made me (and everyone else) laugh a little.

The Script
What’s cool about this movie is that aside from the killing stuff, it’s actually a comedy. There are a lot of really funny scenes that involve random conversations or comments in passing, which makes the movie pretty intriguing. Some of it plays off language issues, and some of it plays off Colin Farrell being an asshole and making fun of people all the time. He also gets in a handful of fights which just seems like something he would be doing anyways. Either way, it adds to the film and makes you see the lighter side of the situation these two hitmen are in. It’s comparable to No Country for Old Men in the way that the dialogue draws you in while so much more is happening around you. Okay, that sounded pretty artsy and I apologize, but it’s true. You know what else is true? This movie had a…small person? No really, it was that midget dwarf from Elf and Nip/Tuck.

Final Word
Overall, this movie was pretty solid. The conversations and the dialogue will keep you interested, Colin Farrell does a lot of crazy things (from taking a guy’s eye out to punching some chick in the face), and the actual plot leads to a memorable ending. And if you find yourself getting bored, just start counting how many beers Colin has, I tallied 23.