In Bruges (2008)

IN BRUGES is NOT a comedy. Why the Hollywood Foreign Press nominated it in the comedy category for Best Picture at the Golden Globes is beyond me. Except for the fact that the film is breathtakingly hilarious in regular intervals throughout.

It's that macho Irish humor delivered with stacatto speed and repetition, and it's even better coming out of the mouth of Colin Farrell, whose talent finally meets up with the right role here. Just as Penelope Cruz will blow you away in her native Spanish (see "Vicki Cristina Barcelona"!), Farrell, is clearly in his element when employing his native brogue. And he charmed the pants off of me. In fact, his performance here is among my favorites of the year.

I liked IN BRUGES as much as any film of its ilk; it's the been-done-before story of a hit man whose job suffers when he develops a conscience. But it's given a lively spin here by director Martin McDonagh, an Oscar-winning director for a short film called "Six Shooter."

IN BRUGES suffers a tad for me because so much of this film is derivative of McDonagh's Oscar-winning short...everything from the pervasive use of the f-word to actor Brendan Gleeson to a midget (or, dwarf, as he'd prefer) is a direct transfer from the director's first short to his first feature. But since few people are likely to have seen the former, they are more free to enjoy the latter.

As I said before, Farrell is a huge chunk of that enjoyment factor, musing at one moment about black and white midgets fighting each other while high on cocaine and insulting American tourists for being too fat to climb a narrow belltower for sight-seeing in Belgium the next, and then proceeding to casually leap and duck around the obese man who quickly grows too tired too quickly to connect a punch with him.

Sitting all alone, I frequently laughed for the benefit of no one but myself. As I said before, though, the film is not really a comedy. If nothing else, it's quite tragic. There is no happy ending to be had here at all. But you'll still enjoy it. Throw in an unexpectedly animated supporting turn by the typically stoic Ralph Feinnes, and you've got yourself a winner.

3.5 out of 4