Martin McDonagh (Academy Award winner for his live action short SIX SHOOTER also starring Brendan Gleeson) gets the limelight with his first full length feature IN BRUGES which premiered as the opening night film at this year’s recent Sundance Film Festival.  McDonagh is also known to have won two prestigious British Olivier awards for the plays, The Pillowman and The Lieutenant of Inishmore.  In IN BRUGES, described by the ads as a killingly funny movie, two hit-men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) hold up in the Belgium city of Bruges waiting for further orders after a difficult job.

For a person to have won so many awards, McDonagh fails to impress with his writing.  His film begins on the right footing with initially sharp laugh-out loud humour as he pits the different characters of Ray and Ken against each other.  But as the film progresses into the second half, the one joke film of frustrated hit-men in an unwanted place runs out of ideas.  Unforgivable is the fact that IN BRUGES contains many offensive midget or dwarf jokes.  It is a wonder Ontarian own Jordan Prentice agreed to do the part.  Gleeson and Farrell are no comedians though they evoke a few laughs by being stuck in awkward situations.  Another fine actor Ralph Fiennes looks lost in his role as the principled Harry only because it calls for him to do an odd turn - will not give off a spoiler here – at the end of the film.  Belge actor Jeremie Renier (the Dardennes Brothers’ LA PROMESSE and L’ENFANT and of Francois Ozon’s THE CRIMINAL LOVERS) does well as the killer ex-boyfriend of Chloe.

Bruges is a beautiful medieval city and cinematographer Eigil Bryld captures the charm of a seldom heard place by including shots of steeples, old churches, cobblestone streets, town squares and canals.  (I have been to Antwerp but had not heard of Bruges till now – or I would have visited Bruges instead.) Why the setting in Christmas time is also a question.  The sub-plot of the romance between Ray and Chloe (Clemence Poesy) appears contrived.

One would expect IN BRUGES to work with many great ideas in the script.  Perhaps McDonagh would have succeeded in making a serious film instead of a comedy.