Just wondering if anyone's seen this movie. I heard it hasn't been released yet in the UK, but it was out on limited release in the US (guess that means arthouses and stuff).
Anyway, I thought it was brilliant. It's like an Irish pulp fiction, only funnier, and more thought-provoking. Colin Farrell was pretty decent for once, and Brendan Gleeson was excellent. Ralph Fiennes is good in it, too.
The story is about two Irish hitmen who hide out in Brugues (one of the most well-preserved medieval cities in Belgium) after an assassination attempt goes bad.
There's the full gambit of Irish humour, from cringe-makingly un-PC to quirky and ironic. The two characters, Raymond (Farrell) - a typical smart-mouthed Dubliner who's always getting into trouble for his disrespectful attitude - and Ken (Gleeson) - the common 'ah, sure' laidback auld fella who has a great passion for art and culture, work together brilliantly.
Not only that, but the humour is balanced perfectly with a strong emotional storyline.
So, if you're able to, and haven't already, go see it.
If you already have, tell me what you thought. I'm interested to hear what foreigners in particular thought of the jokes (which wasn't too locally-biased, but there's a definite sense that this was written for an Irish audience)
I've seen the posters etc for it... to be honest they don't do much to sell it to me... I was thinking it would be shite.. but based on your little review, I might give it a chance when it gets to the UK
Probably the funniest movie I've seen all year. Go see it with a friend, it's extremely quotable. I highly recommend!
(By the way, it's spelled "Bruges." ;))
Quote from: The Ivy on Tue 01/04/2008 20:28:41
Probably the funniest movie I've seen all year. Go see it with a friend, it's extremely quotable. I highly recommend!
(By the way, it's spelled "Bruges." ;))
(Whoops. I kept meaning to change that but never did...)
I loved the scenes with the immoral, racist American midget. Particularly when he first meets Ken:
Ken: So, you're American, huh?
Jimmy: Yeah... Just don't hold it against me.
Ken: Well, so long as you don't say anything particularly loud or crass you should be fine.
Also, at the bell tower:
Ken: You coming up?
Ray: What's up there?
Ken: Well, the view.
Ray: The view of what? The view of down here? I can see that down here.
Ken: You are the worst tourist, Ray.
Ray: Look, Ken. I grew up in Dublin, and I love Dublin. If I had grown up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me. But I didn't, so it doesn't.
The only problem I could foresee is that people wouldn't get the little things. Like, say, an American might not be familiar with the common European stereotype that they're all loud, fat, crass and oblivious to the fact that the "but we totally saved your asses in World War II" excuse has worn a little thin... (which isn't true, of course, but it's still funny. Especially since usually all the big comedy movies are through American's eyes)
Or the fact that most Dubliners regard non-Dubliners as retarded culchies, and most non-Dubliners regard Dubliners as Brit-wannabes (thus the phrase 'Jackeen' in reference to the Union Jack)