This Movie is Rated R – For Strong Bloody Violence, Pervasive Language and Some Drug Use
I have seen this movie numerous times and I love it just as much each time. It is hysterically funny, while also being very dark. The actors are wonderful and the setting is breathtaking. Just in case you didn’t know Bruges is in Belgium. The majority of the city’s medieval architecture remains intact and it is beautiful.
After a botched job, two hit men are sent to Bruges and ordered by their boss to lie low. Ken wants to make the best of their time there by taking in the sights and being like regular tourists. On the other hand Ray can’t see anything positive about the situation and continually vocalizes his opinion on the matter. The banter between them while they are sightseeing is incredibly funny.
Colin Farrell plays Ray and he is absolutely amazing. For some reason I always avoided movies with Colin in them and I’m not really sure why. Somehow I had just managed to form a negative opinion about him (based on what I don’t know). Man, was I wrong, he is a fabulous actor. He won a Best Actor Golden Globe for this performance and he definitely deserved it.
Ray doesn’t filter anything he says which leads to many politically incorrect things coming out of his mouth. Although, they aren’t meant to be hateful or angry, it’s more like he just doesn’t know any better. Ray has a certain childlike innocence and when he does find something he is interested in he reacts just like a kid would. He is extremely tough and can more than hold his own in a fight, but he can also be very vulnerable. You just can’t help but love the guy.
Ken (Brendan Gleeson) is a nice guy who also happens to be a hit man. He has been in the business for a while and serves as a sort of father figure for Ray. Even though they get on each other’s nerves and have arguments over the most ridiculous things, they do seem to care about each other.
Of course this ends up being more than a lay low and see the sights kind of trip. The consequences of certain actions are discovered which leads to betrayals, arguments and life or death struggles in which not everyone will come out alive. It becomes a very surreal/action packed battle amongst those involved.
Some of my favorite quotes (I had too force myself to stop, there are just too many of them):
Ray – “The view of what? The view of down here? I can see that from down here.”
Ken – “Ray, you’re about the worst tourist in the whole world.”
Ken – “But it’s a bit f*cking over-elaborate, isn’t it? Go take him to hide out. Go take him to hide out where? Go take him to hide out in f*cking Bruges.”
Ray – “My arse. “Let’s go.” They’re filming midgets.”
Ray – “Jeez, he swears a lot doesn’t he?”
Ken – “I thought you didn’t like Bruges.”
Ray – “I don’t like Bruges, it’s a sh*thole.”
Ray – “We are doing the things that you wanted to do today.”
Ken – “And that we’d do them without you throwing a f*cking moody, like some 5-year-old who’s dropped all his sweets?”
Ray – “I didn’t agree to that.”
Ray – “Purgatory’s kind of like the in-betweeny one. You weren’t really sh*t, but you weren’t all that great, either.”
Harry – “How can a fairytale town not be somebody’s f*cking thing.”
Ray – “Of course you can’t f*cking see! I just shot a blank in your f*cking eyes!”
In the special features section be sure to check out “F**cking Bruges”. It’s pretty much every swear word in the entire movie put together in a clip that is about 1 ½ minutes long. It is so funny.
Also, if you watch the deleted scenes (labeled 45-48) you will see Matt Smith as young Harry (Ralph Fiennes character). Matt will be “The Doctor” starting in 2010, replacing David Tennant when he leaves “Doctor Who”.
Jan
Following is additional information about the movie that contains spoilers. If you don’t want to be spoiled don’t read any further.
Ray’s rant to Ken about how his date went, how much “coke” he has taken and what effect it is having on him amused me greatly. I don’t think Colin took a breath during the whole thing.
Ray is definitely not cut out to be a hit man. It’s not just the fact that his first hit went horribly wrong and he accidentally killed a child. He can be such a sensitive individual that I think murdering people would end up weighing heavily on his conscience. It seems like he would find that very hard to live with.
I love the scene in the park when Ken is going to shoot Ray. Then sees that Ray is going to kill himself, so he stops him. Ray’s remorse and wanting to die showed Ken that Ray was worth saving. That he had the potential to change and lead a better life. Up until that point I don’t think Ken knew what he was going to do for sure. It seemed like he was trying to psyche himself up to do the job (out of loyalty to Harry), but that he didn’t really want to do it.
