This movie raises existential questions about life and meaning when two hit men are ordered to spend time in Bruge, a picturesque, Flemish part of Belgium. Along the way to facing questions such as why pregnant mothers and children deserve special protection that life-stained adults do not, you'll wade through drunken, drug-induced attempts to dampen the meaninglessness of life, together with attempts to connect in romance and pleasure, and even some admirable bravery. I thought the story was just too indulgent in terms of violence that it's legitimacy and storyline was somewhat undermined. Still, it does deliver a wake up call to those who are tempted to float, dreamlike through life without grounding themselves in First Things that genuinely are seeds of true meaningful, fulfilling life.

Dark humor, lovable, tortured characters, witty dialogue, tear-inducing drama. It's cliche but this is my favorite movie of all time, so far. Also check out The Guard and Seven Psychopaths for other films by this director.

Not necessarily your favorite, but too smart and original to forget. Really like anything else, plus great performances.

What drove me to seeing 'In Bruges' in the first place was primarily great actors like Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes, and also for the concept and Bruges itself. 'In Bruges' is definitely not for all tastes, one can say that for a lot of films but 'In Bruges' is one of the more extreme examples. It is very foul mouthed with an extreme profanity laden script, is very uncompromisingly violent and its political incorrectness will put the easily offended and the faint hearted off. Three reasons not to see it if all this bothers you. It didn't bother me much though (having seen plenty of films with those approaches that still manage to be great). Neither did on the most part the ridiculousness that 'In Bruges' has been criticised for.What is meant by "on the most part"? 'In Bruges' weakest element, from a storytelling standpoint and for the film in general, is the ending. This to me was the only part of the film that went over the top on the ridiculousness to overblown proportions, and it just felt contrived and running out of ideas in feel. Carter Burwell's music score is a well written and quite lovely one on its own. Within the film and its mood though, it didn't fit however and juxtaposes too much in terms of tone.However, the performances are very good, excellent in the case of Gleeson (as always) and Fiennes having tons of fun as his sinister character. Wasn't expecting acting this good from Farrell, this is the best he's ever been and he is successful in providing an interesting character that was intended to be morally complex and not likeable. It's the relationship between Farrell and Gleeson that drives the story and drama, it was essential to the film's success and manages to be entertaining, affecting and thought-provoking,Photography is both gritty and beautiful, with a clear sense of style and atmosphere. Bruges not just looks wonderful, it also is treated like a character of its own quite rightly.Similarly successful is the script, which is surprisingly intelligent with a strong balance with thought-provoking philosophical musings, very funny black comedy and character moral complexity (not making the characters likeable but it was clear early on that the intent was for them never to be so) . The story absorbs and entertains, with the brutal holds no prisoners violence not feeling gratuitous, the central relationship being beautifully written and the despair and redemptions themes being surprisingly poignant.Overall, very good if understandably polarising. 8/10 Bethany Cox