Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I’ve just seen the opening night film of the Sundance Film Festival: IN BRUGES. Last year the opening night flick was CHICAGO 10, which I had a very mixed reaction to. Not the best way to kick off the fest and I hoped IN BRUGES would be a better starter.
It was.
IN BRUGES has become my favorite movie of the year. Granted, the only theatrical films I’ve seen this year are Dungeon Siege, First Sunday, Alvin and the Chipmunks, One Missed Call and Cloverfield (one of these movies doesn’t belong! Can you figure out which one?).
So what you’ve got is a dark buddy comedy starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson about two hitmen whose boss sends them to a small town in Belgium to hide out after a botched job. Burges is the name of this storybook town.
The movie balances drama and comedy well. I’d say it’s more comedy than drama, but there are a few moments of deadly seriousness that really give the film its own identity. You also have Gleeson and Farrell who are fucking hilarious together. Very odd couple.
Farrell hates being cooped up in this quaint town, wanting desperately to go back to London or at the very least get pissed and coked out of his mind. Gleeson on the other hand is the professional, trying to keep a low profile and take in the sights. He genuinely loves taking in the sights, doing the tourist thing.
The film this most reminded me of was GROSSE POINTE BLANK. It’s a quirky world, not quite reality as we know it (it’s too farcical), but the real world has an influence and these gray characters feel real regret, guilt and remorse.
And it has midgets. (The headline is indeed a line from the movie as we come to find out that Farrell loves midgets and is awed by their presence).
And that is why it is awesome.
There’s some Danish movie shooting in Bruges as these guys are hiding out featuring a midget actor in a weird dream sequence. He’s not a happy man. Jordan Prentice plays the actor and he’s fuckin’ great. A quick trip to IMDB shows me he should be worshipped not only for turning in a great performance in this flick, but because he was the man behind the feathers. He was indeed HOWARD THE DUCK. How badass is that?
I’m going to the BRUGES movie party after I post this up and if I happen to meet Mr. Prentice I will completely weird him out with my HOWARD THE DUCK love.
Anyway, if it wasn’t enough that you had smart writing and two really funny leads, you’re also introduced to a hot drug dealer (Clemence Posey… so yes, this movie is a little like a Harry Potter convention… Fleur, Voldemort and Mad Eye Moody), an angry Canadian, a fat American who tries to punch Farrell’s lights out, a pregnant hotel owner and, ultimately, Ralph Fiennes who is Harry, the pissed off f-bomb dropping boss.
This movie really rocked my world. I do love midgets, I do love pitch black comedy and this movie has them both in spades. Focus has a really great film on their hands. I hope they can find it its audience. It opens in limited release next month. This is strongly recommended by me. I had a blast with this movie.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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