In Bruges (2008) ***1/2
Like Martin McDonagh's 2017 film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (review), his 2008 feature debut, In Bruges, is a dramatic crime film with very dark humor, complex characters, and challenging subject matter (the most obvious of which I can't really mention without spoiling both a key plot point, as well as its tie-in to the climax).
Though I find In Bruges fairly contrived, it still has fantastic performances from its three leads and certainly poses some difficult questions of the audience. I like films that dance around grey areas, sociopolitically, rather than force-feeding its politics to the viewer, so for that this is a strong film. I liked it a little more on “Take 2” but it’s my least favorite of McDonagh’s three movies (the other being Seven Psychopaths (2013) (review)). Still, it’s a great film, and I look forward to McDonagh’s newest picture, The Banshees Of Inisherin, which releases early next year, and which reunites Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.
Though I find In Bruges fairly contrived, it still has fantastic performances from its three leads and certainly poses some difficult questions of the audience. I like films that dance around grey areas, sociopolitically, rather than force-feeding its politics to the viewer, so for that this is a strong film. I liked it a little more on “Take 2” but it’s my least favorite of McDonagh’s three movies (the other being Seven Psychopaths (2013) (review)). Still, it’s a great film, and I look forward to McDonagh’s newest picture, The Banshees Of Inisherin, which releases early next year, and which reunites Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.
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