I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention that everything that happens in the movie is colored by the season – it’s Christmas, meaning they’re releasing the film about two months too late, but it doesn’t matter – and the place: Bruges is the "best-preserved Medieval city in Europe," and the film, shot on location, treats its setting like another character, and an often stunningly beautiful one at that.

The setting, in the final moments of the film, gives it a dreamy, ghost-like quality, enhanced by a fascinating climax set near a local movie shoot in which everyone is wearing grotesque masks that are reminiscent of a painting that Ray has seen earlier. It’s impossible to describe how the scene works without experiencing it, but the point is, it’s wholly original moment. And the laughs, pathos, setting, and terrific performances all add up to a very original, very successful movie.

Movie Grade: A-

P.S. It says in press materials, and in many reviews, that the titular city is pronounced "broozh". But that’s wrong. If an American pronounced it like that, wouldn’t you end up with a word that rhymes with "booze"? "Bruges" is actually pronounced in such a way that it rhymes with "luge". Or does "zh" just make a sound that I don’t know about?

Synopsis:

"In Bruges" is the darkly comedic tale of the fates of hit men Ray (Farrell) and Ken (Gleeson). After a difficult job in London, the team is ordered by their boss Harry (Fiennes) to cool their heels in Bruges. Very much out of their comfort zones, the men find themselves drawn into increasingly dangerous entanglements with locals, tourists, and a film shoot. Soon, their perspectives on life and death are violently skewed.