In Bruges: 2/4 stars
I had mixed feelings about this one. I wanted to like it, I wanted to forgive it for its shortcomings, but I just couldn't. Colin Farrell is either a tosser or a wanker, I forget which one is which. Perhaps he's both. Brendan Gleason is likable and watchable as always, but I just wasn't buying the hitman with a heart of gold thing. I could have sworn that the dwarf actor in this one was Peter Dinklage, the same one who was in Elf and The Station Agent (they both have the same exact personality) but upon closer reflection this guy had a much more unusually shaped head.
Bruges looks like a beautiful place. I guess you can say that much.
Despite what I've written above, I was actually liking this movie quite a bit up until the last half hour or so. I didn't like the ending at all. It was unnecessarily bloody and I didn't buy for a second that it would ever actually happen. Before the climax one character makes a big sacrifice for the sake of another. Talk about a waste.
Most, if not all gangster movies and T.V. shows rely on the premise that even though their protagonists are criminals and murders, they all abide by this strict code of honor and conduct that somehow elevates their status above that of the low-lives they really are, and tries to therefore convince us that these are actually noble individuals. I don't buy it. I don't think most career criminals live by any such code.
I can forgive a movie for covering material that's already out there, as long as it uses that old material in new and creative ways. In Bruges falls short of the mark. Not terribly far, but far enough to create a diversion.
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2 comments:
I had pretty much the same reaction as you.
I like Colin Farrell, but I got sick of hearing, "I'm in fuckin' Bruges. Goddamn, fuckin' Bruges is boring. Fuckin' Bruges! We're in fuckin' Bruges! And I'm bored!" In case you haven't heard, swearing makes dialogue more "authentic".
>>I don't think most career criminals live by any such code.
Again, I agree. If they do have a code, isn't it "What can I do for ME?" Isn't that one of the great things about Goodfellas? For a lot of the movie it seems like a romantic view of criminal life. And perhaps it is when everything is going your way.
But as soon as their backs are against the wall, everyone turns on everyone else. Jimmy tries to kill Karen. Paulie turns his back on Henry. Henry rats everyone out, etc.
Goodfellas was a great movie. I think you hit it on the head why. Godfather is great also, although it covers many of the same noble gangster themes. Although it does show, particularly in Part II, what a life of crime can do to an otherwise decent person (Michael), how does it get away with what films like In Bruges can't?
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