Writer/Director Martin McDonagh’s film In Bruges has an unexpected charm. It brings Father Ted and Father Dougall from the show Father Ted to the big screen in the form of main characters Ken (Brendan Gleeson) and Ray (Colin Farrell) and puts them in the centre of a criminal world as hit-men.

Ken and Ray have been asked by their boss Harry to wait in Bruges for his call with instructions on their next move. They go sightseeing in Bruges (against Ray’s wishes) to fill time while they wait, allowing viewers to become acquainted with the two of them as they explore. Sounds boring, but these moments provide some of the best comedy of the film.

Underlying the comedy is the theme of right and wrong. Viewers could be forgiven for thinking In Bruges was intended to be a fairytale when in actual fact it’s the complete opposite. Unlike fairy-tales where there are goodies and baddies and everything is black and white, it is hard to place the characters in this film on one side or the other as nobody is portrayed as all good or all bad despite their involvement in crime. They are complicated characters who’s boundaries stretch further then they should and differ from each others leading to exiting conflict. For example despite being a killer, Ken and Ray’s boss Harry decides Ray deserves to be killed as he accidentally killed a kid and Harry considers this unethical.

In one comical scene we see Ken dragging Ray around churches much in the same way a parent does to their child and Ray vents his frustration by shuffling his feet extremely loudly around the church floor in a moody petulant childlike manner. Later on, we see Ray carry out his first ‘hit’ on a vicar in a church and as previously mentioned accidentally kill a child at the same time. A piece of paper drops from the child’s hand on which he has written a list of things he is sorry for, the first on the list is being moody. This kid is an innocent victim who has unnecassarily been involved in this crime and as the story develops we see Ray portrayed as an innocent kid who has been unneccasarily sucked into the world of crime. The question is will he or won’t he get the chance at life that the kid he killed never got?

The main response I had to this film was surprise. I sat down to watch it with certain expectations but it was nothing like I expected. McDonagh has really thought outside the box with In Bruges and created something that dares to be a little bit different, I highly recommend it.

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