ONE OF THE BEST FROM 08
i have been watching all the top dvd's from the last year some great i.e into the wild, dark knight and some not so good i.e no country for old men & the incredible hulk. in bruges certainly makes it into the great section.the only thing for me that lets it down (slightly) is ralph fiennes whom i take it had watched sexy beast just before filming this.farrell and gleeson are perfect in the lead roles and its a real return to form for farrell who has been quite of late but is a joy in this,the biggest surprise is that this film features the midgit...ere...sorry dwarf from the absolute radio adverts and i found him really creepy in those ad's but is terrific as the tiny actor.
having been sent to sleep by no country for old men this was welcome relief and certainly one of the best films of the year past!!! but the true star of the film is bruges itself,beautifully shot especially the night scenes which really add to the feel of the film.not to be missed

Big Surprise
As someone who thinks little of Colin Farrell's acting ability, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. Not only are the leads, Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, funny and sensitive, but their chemistry together is a thing of beauty. Collin Farrell can act, which was not obvious in some of his other films.
While you can predict what the ultimate outcome will probably be, I defy anyone to predict how it gets there. The script is full of surprises. The director, who also wrote the script has taken the path less traveled and made an unconventional gangster story into something both funny and touching -- quite a feat.
In a world of films which are mainly predictable, this is an exception and a very enjoyable one.

Lovely City, Shame About the Film
Well, if you've never been to Bruges, it's a beautiful city. The film makes it look beautiful, too, thanks to the director of photography of this rather silly film.
(It's supposed to be a black comedy, but the swearing about Bruges stops being funny quite early on - and anyway you get that kind of easy gag out of the way at film school.)
Disappointed ? Yes, I was. I like my films to be as noir as a strong espresso, and I have no problem with justified violence or bad language (this one has stacks of the latter) but I don't like dialogue that's contrived - as if the writer is talking to himself, and I don't like situations that are so far-fetched as to blow credibility out of the water. Even in comedy - and this ain't funny. Or even likeable.
For me, this film is ultimately a bore. The soul-searching is self-conscious, and it all takes too long to get anywhere. When it finally arrived, I had long since stopped caring.
Have a look for the sake of the scenery - it's a great travelogue - but if this is one of the best films of 2008, then we should be very afraid for what's left of our film industry.

out of bruges
the best film ever made. don't ask me though. what do i know?

BEST COMEDY IN QUITE A WHILE
IN BRUGES turned out to be one of the best comedies in recent years. Finally you get great black humor instead of stupid high school sex jokes as in American Pie. This film starts out slow but hits hard. Thank God the director of this film had some sense and delivered some old school film making here. No MTV generation bang em up, but an excellent film which I can only higjly recommend.

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