they're makin' a film about midgets

the only real downside of the film 'in bruges' was the mentally deranged lady who sat next to me, picking her nose, muttering non-stop, occasionally hurling obscenities and come-ons to the actors on the screen, and generally smelling like the devil himself.
brendan gleeson is a big fat fuck, and that's his charm. he's a bit colm meaney these days though, and by that i mean he's in every single movie that comes out of ireland. i have to say that the idea of a sweet, gentle, cultured hitman is more than a bit tired, but i put that aside for brendan.

colin farrell's eyebrows served their usual purpose. i think he gets bad reviews too often. obviously, he's been in some real shit. but, in 'tigerland' especially, he can actually move beyond the puppy dog eyes. his character in this film is a few points up in intelligence from the one in 'intermission', which i think helps. he's good at kind of dumb, but if he's playing too dumb he turns into a caricature.

ralph fiennes...didn't show up till late in the film. and his voice on the phone during the early parts of the film sounded not a bit like him. he's always scary good as a bad guy ('schindler's list', obviously) although i think some colored contacts would work wonders. bad guys don't have such pretty eyes.

the script was pretty delightful, especially several throwaway comments by farrell's character of such ridiculous impropriety (my favorite is about a retarded black girl on a see-saw) that the entire audience (my mad seatmate included) seemed to cough nervously and wait for someone else to say something. martin mcdonagh proves that he can pen a good screenplay without the classic playwright problem of coming off as too stagey.

bruges is a lovely city. i don't know why farrell's character finds it so vile. themes of hell and death and purgatory blend in nicely with a healthy dose of hieronymous bosch, which sadly turns a bit heavy-handed at the end. there's a gorgeous, if highly unlikely chase scene through the wet moonlit streets that made me feel like booking a ticket for belgium (which is probably the first time that phrase has been said). well. i suppose it's as good a place as any for an existential dilemma.

several bit players are memorable, especially a bad-tempered canadian tourist played by the little bald guy who was on 'law and order' for years. and ciaran hinds is far too brief as a doomed priest.

one thing...not that this bothered me, but i can see how it might...there are several scenes of intense violence towards the end. the black jollity of most of the movie is of such a chatty, kickabout nature, that when things start exploding (heads, big fat fucks) it's a bit shocking.

all in all...the film makes no grand statements, and it doesn't really do anything that hasn't been done before. but the quirky juxtaposition of disgruntled characters amid 'fary-tale' bruges seems somehow really fresh.

and it always helps to have a midget.