PLAYWRIGHT Martin McDonagh, who won an Oscar for his short film “Six Shooter,” isn’t as lucky with “In Bruges,” which disappointingly strip-mines the very fatigued comic hit-man genre to diminishing returns.
As formulaic in its own way as anything mainstream Hollywood turns out, “In Bruges” is also a fish-out-of-water comedy – and the picturesque Belgian city is the movie’s main selling point.
The fish in this case are Ray (Colin Farrell) and the older Ken (Brendan Gleeson), a pair of salty Irish-born London contract killers who have been exiled to Belgium by their boss after Ray accidentally kills a youngster while rubbing out a priest.
Ken actually enjoys sightseeing, but he’s got his hands full keeping Ray, torn between boredom and remorse, out of trouble.
One minute Ray is trying to kill himself. The next he’s spouting nonstop profanities, beating up a Canadian tourist, chasing a whore (Clémence Poésy) and obsessing about a racist dwarf (Jordan Prentice) who is shooting a nonsensical art movie in Bruges.
Then poor Ken gets an order from the boss to put Ray out of his misery. Instead he stops Ray from committing suicide, forcing the annoyed boss (Ralph Fiennes) to interrupt his Christmas holidays to do the job himself.
The film climaxes with Ray being hunted not only by the boss but also by the whore’s pimp (Jérémie Renier). You know where this one is going to end half an hour before the movie does.
McDonaugh, who is noted for balancing drama and black comedy in his plays, isn’t adept at shifting tones in the movie, which relies entirely too much on the theory that obscenity is funny. And he encourages his three leads to ham it up incessantly.
The opening night attraction at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, “In Bruges” is strictly firing blanks.
IN BRUGES
Bang Bang Flop Flop.
Running time: 107 minutes. Rated R (intense violence and profanity, drugs). At the Lincoln Square and the Angelika.