'Bruges' offers bizarre, lively comedy

Two hit men and a racist dwarf walk into a bar.

It’s an image evocative of a Quentin Tarantino film, but found, instead, in British playwright turned director Martin McDonagh’s first feature, “In Bruges,” starring Colin Farrell.

After a job in London goes awry, hitmen, Ken (Brendan Gleeson) and Ray (Farrell) have been sent to Bruges, a medieval Belgian city, to await further instructions from their boss. With nothing but time to kill, the two spend their days touring museums and seeing the picturesque sights, much to Ray’s dismay.

The place is charming enough for Ken, but Ray’s pure and seemingly irrational hatred for Bruges generates a substantial amount of the comedy. Farrell muses at one point that maybe hell is an eternity spent in Bruges. Rather, the city serves as a kind of moral and physical purgatory for Ray, as he wrestles with the guilt of his latest kill.

Desperate for diversion he finds his way into the funhouse version of Bruges, the absurdity mounting along the way. Enter the dwarf. In fact the celebration of all things absurd plays as much a starring role as Farrell does.

McDonagh, who also wrote the film, demonstrates a nimble ability to create laughably bizarre yet understated and believable scenarios, and his dialogue zips along with a distinctly British sensibility.

Farrell’s performance as the mischievous but loveable Ray is refreshingly low key, and he reveals a considerable knack for comedic timing.

Perhaps the film flirts with sentimentality when larger dramatic questions of fate or the spectacle of violence arise, and some of the humor may take American viewers a split second longer to register, but taken as whole, its effects are ultimately well worth the wait.

Though light on thematic substance, “In Bruges” is a solid film that packs more than enough comedic punch to become a cult favorite.

Rating: Three out of five stars.