| | | Shoot First. Sightsee Later.
Features: DVD, English, Spanish, Dolby, Dolby Digital (5.1)
Colin Farrell and Academy Award-nominee Ralph Fiennes star in this edgy, action-packed comedy, filled with thrilling chases, spectacular shoot-outs and an explosive ending you won't want to miss!Hit men Ray (Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson, Harry Potter) have been ordered to cool their heels in the storybook city of Bruges (it's in Belgium) after finishing a big job. But since hit men make the worst tourists, they soon find themselves in a life and death struggle of comic proportions against one very angry crime boss (Fiennes)! Get ready for the outrageous and unpredictable fun you will have In Bruges, the movie critics are calling, "wildly entertaining" (Stephen Rebello, Playboy).
"Dark, hilarious and oddly moving." Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com
"Tightly scripted and intricately plotted, the buddy film manages the neat two-step of being simultaneously profane and engaging." Chris Kaltenbach, Baltimore Sun
"Sharply written, superbly acted, funny and even occasionally touching." Claudia Puig, USA Today
"...deepens from odd-couple comedy into Catholic-themed drama, but it remains marvelously funny throughout." J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader
"In a film full of great performances, Ralph Feinnes steals the show as Harry, the boss." Jeremy Mathews, Film Threat
"A haunting and hypnotic movie, just the thing to get lost in." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"When it's funny, it's hilarious; when it's serious, it's powerful; and either way, it's an endless pleasant surprise." Tasha Robinson, The Onion A.V. Club
Editor's Note
Playwright Martin McDonagh makes an impressive feature film debut as the writer and director of this tragicomedy as rich, dark, and complex as Belgian chocolate. The story unfolds over the course of a few days, as Irish hitmen Ken (the appealingly bear-like Brendon Gleeson) and Ray (Colin Farrell, in a loose and sympathetic performance) are ordered to lay low in the tourist-laden town of Bruges, Belgium, after a bungled shooting back home. Their only directive is to stay grounded and wait for further orders from crime boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes, gleefully playing evil), but both underlings--nervous and delightfully talky--chafe with the waiting. The childlike Ray is inconsolably antsy and withdrawn, and after a time we learn that his restlessness is borne of something deeper and more disturbing than mere ADD. The more paternal and patient of the duo, Ken, takes the opportunity to enjoy Bruges's lush, buttressed beauty, but he, too, undergoes some soul-searching by movie's end. The plot snakes cleverly (and at times touchingly) around flashbacks of the Dublin murder as the garrulous killers philosophize and interact with locals and tourists, including an acerbic American dwarf, the proprietress of the B&B, Dutch prostitutes, and a local enchantress. McDonagh's absurdist black humor asserts itself as hilarious dialogue and dreamlike visuals (supported by Carter Burwell's unsettling score) that shift seamlessly from sweet to grotesque, like a Grimm's fairytale come to the big screen. McDonagh's command of the film medium puts to rest any reservations about playwrights-turned-directors. Viewers who can accept the somewhat contrived situation presented here will enjoy the crackling banter, vibrant performances, and beautiful scenery.
| Features | Audio: English, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Deleted & Extended Scenes | | Dubbed: French | | Featurettes: When In Bruges, Strange Bruges, A Boat Trip Around Bruges, & F***ing Bruges | | Gag Reel | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish |
| Entertainment Reviews
 | In Bruges - DVD Review By: Jarad I. Wilk - Cinema Blend DVD Reviews Published on: 7/3/2008 10:48 AM | | Ray (Farrell) and Ken (Gleeson) are two hitmen who just completed a difficult job where Ray accidentally kills a child. Their boss, Harry (Fiennes), a family man who happens to be in the business of killing people, is not happy with the results of the hit, so he holes them up in Bruges, Belgium - which could be the last destination for one of the men. ...read the full review |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 5/12/2009 |
| Running Time: 107 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2008 | | Catalog ID: 62102023 | | UPC: 00025195016322 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, French Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
|
| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson enjoy themselves mightily....The roles are big, broad, violent, and strategically funny..." 02/15/2008 p.44-45New York Times
"[U]nmistakably sincere....[W]ith Mr. Gleeson's solid, stolid physicality and performance giving ballast to Mr. Farrell's lilting, fluttery turn." 02/08/2008 Los Angeles Times
"A dark comedy with a melancholy streak and punchy sense of humor....Farrell turns his mercenary killer into a wide-eyed innocent, hilariously vulnerable..." 02/08/2008 USA Today
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "It is easily one of the best debut feature film in recent memory....As the story unspools, it grows more intriguing." 02/09/2008 Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "[A] winning turn, with playwright-turned-director Martin McDonagh wringing bloody laughs from a jet-black farce..." 05/01/2008 p.48 Uncut
3 stars out of 5 -- "McDonagh has been compared to Quentin Tarantino before, and it's obviously not something he's running away from....Gleason's beatific performance is a significant bonus..." 05/01/2008 p.123 Empire
4 stars out of 5 -- "Farrell isn't carrying this engagingly digressive caper alone...Gleeson makes the perfect foil..." 05/01/2008 p.40-42 Sight and Sound
"[I]t's a handsome picture....As a director, McDonagh's most obvious skill lies in his work with the actors. Farrell's performance has an appealingly goofy vulnerability that reminds us why we liked him in the first place." 05/01/2008 p.69 Premiere
3 stars out of 4 -- "[With] Ralph Fiennes in an oily, fang-bearing, hilariously harrowing performance..." 02/06/2007 ReelViews 7 of 10
For its first two-thirds, In Bruges is an intelligent, gently paced thriller about what happens to hitmen when they screw up. The movie crawls at a deliberate pace for most of its running length, allowing the characters to be fleshed out and offering opportunities for mordant humor. As one might guess from its title, there are also some gorgeously scenic shots of the Belgian city Bruges, where the action takes place. Unfortunately, the film's final act doesn't come close to equaling what precedes it. Once the shooting starts, everything collapses, and the ending is the kind that causes head-shaking. It's as if the filmmaker realized he wrote himself into a corner and had to resort to a contrivance to bring things to a close...In the final analysis, while there are some pleasures to be gained from watching In Bruges - especially during the first 75 minutes - the film's discouraging climax and conclusion make it difficult to recommend. McDonagh appears to have fallen victim to a common failing of filmmakers - the hope that viewers will care enough for the characters that they'll overlook plotting deficiencies. Unfortunately, it rarely works that way. It's because the characters are well developed that the way the screenplay toys with their fates is hard to excuse. In Bruges tantalizes with possibilities but ultimately frustrates. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
If the movie accomplished nothing else, it inspired in me an urgent desire to visit Bruges. But it accomplished a lot more than that. This film debut by the theater writer and director Martin McDonagh is an endlessly surprising, very dark, human comedy, with a plot that cannot be foreseen but only relished. Every once in a while you find a film like this, that seems to happen as it goes along, driven by the peculiarities of the characters...The movie does an interesting thing with Bruges. It shows us a breathtakingly beautiful city, without ever seeming to be a travelogue. It uses the city as a way to develop the characters. When Ken wants to climb an old tower "for the view," Ray argues "why do I have to climb up there to see down here? I'm already down here." He is likewise unimpressed by glorious paintings, macabre sculptures and picturesque canals, but is thrilled as a kid when he comes upon a film being shot...Martin McDonagh is greatly respected in Ireland and England for his plays; his first film, a short named "Six Shoooter" starring Gleeson, won a 2006 Oscar. In his feature debut, "In Bruges," he has made a remarkable first film, as impressive in its own way as "House of Games," the first film by David Mamet, who McDonagh is sometimes compared with...Yes, it's a "thriller," but one where the ending seems determined by character and upbringing rather than plot requirements. - Roger Ebert
|
| |
|
|
| | |
__USERID__
/prod/in-bruges/q/loc/322/207966345.html
|
|
|
| Customer Reviews | ![]() | | Cinematography |  5 | | Plot | 5 | | Acting | 5 | | Overall Satisfaction | 5 |
| |
5 of 5 Not Your Classic Hit Friday, September 26, 2008
GeraldT from Midway, NC
OK, I vacationed in Europe this summer and actually toured Bruges, which our group considered one of most charming and beautiful cities we visited in Belgium. And I bought the movie primarily for the "I saw that in person" thrills, I admit. But once I watched "In Bruges" I was VERY glad I did. This is an extremely well-acted, beautifully choreographed, riveting plot line, edge of your seat hit man/mob thriller/comedy/romance/buddy flick/fish out of water/plot twisted gem of a movie such that I have rarely seen the like of before. It's such an intelligent, involving and delightful film that I fully understand why it flopped in theaters: it makes the viewer think and feel and react. Not good these days. I'd like to give it 7 stars - BUY THIS MOVIE!!! Was this review helpful?  
5 of 5 Great Film Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Rick from NMB, SC
In Bruges has a plot line that continually twists and characters that are very twisted. Bruges is a beautiful backdrop for a story that washes over it. The writing is really good, as is the acting. Lots of F bombs, and blood -- at times -- if you are delicate. Otherwise, buy, watch, and know that you have seen something that is likely to become a classic. Was this review helpful?
|
Look For Similar Products By Category
|
