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Ray’s central conflict, that he accidentally killed a child while shooting the shit out of a priest, isn’t funny in the least - nor is it meant to be. But as the partners tour the city of Bruges, taking in the old cathedrals and reflecting on the meaning of life, their attempts to come to terms with their work, and the potential religious significance of it, IS morbidly hilarious. McDonagh’s script is deeply personal and chock full of sharp, ironic wit, making you wonder precisely what he’s getting out of his system here. Better yet, his actors seem to feel the connection too - considering this was his first feature film, McDonagh coaxes some excellent performances out of his leads. His instinct for brooding intimacy is reminiscent of old school Danny Boyle, and he’s very good at infusing a shot with forewarning when necessary. There’s a clock tower in Bruges that lurks in the background of several key scenes, setting up the film’s high point well in advance without giving anything away.

But it’s the work he pulls from his actors that defines this film.

In Bruges is without a doubt one of Farrell’s finest performances. He may or may not have a future as an action star but he shines best in small, personal films like this one. Ray isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer but Farrell makes him affectingly human. The emotional highs and lows he experiences as he comes to grips with what he’s done feel deeply real, and as he dives into the underbelly of Bruges to regulate them, every garbled word he utters, and every tortured facial tic that crosses his face tugs at you as though he’s family. Indeed; Gleeson’s effortless, rustic charm makes him seem more like a conflicted older sibling than a hardened killer, and when he gets the order to rub out his partner, the agony he feels is palpable.

Harry considers himself a family man, but there’s a tightly coiled psychopath beneath the veneer, and if Ken doesn’t already feel guilty for recruiting Ray, he should. Harry is all brimstone and bluster, and Fiennes is, on occasion chilling - easily rivaling Bob Hoskins or Ben Kingsley at their scene stealing best. And is cinematography even necessary in a place like Bruges? No offense to Eigil Bryld, but the city’s feudal charm would seem to have made his job a lot easier.

It’s not all roses. While the reason for the film’s location is more or less adequately explained during the film, even Ray and Ken remark early on how unnecessary it seems to be in Belgium, as opposed to Liverpool or Cornwall. Perhaps Bruges has some personal significance for McDonagh, but the script’s incessant need to draw attention to where they are smacks of an inside joke that nobody ever bothers to explain. And there’s one character in particular who figures prominently into the film’s climax because of his...stature...but he’s such a despicable person that his presence feels gratuitous until the end. It’s a little distracting at first, but it all works out.

And speaking of the ending, it will leave you considering a quote inaccurately attributed to Ray earlier in the film:
“I know I'm awake but it feels like I'm in a dream.”

The moment is sudden, chaotic and even disorienting. It’s a fuzzy reverie that DOES feel like a dream - and whether Chloe turns out to be a guardian angel or a disruptive shrew, whether Ray finds redemption or destruction, whether Harry makes the right people dead or not - it all ends up feeling okay. Oddly, it’s the same combination of agitation and serenity you might feel after being fired from a job you never really liked in the first place, and it feels fitting.

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