Film Review: IN BRUGES (2008)

Writer/Director: Martin McDonagh
Running time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Drama/Thriller/Comedy
UK Release date: 18th April 2008

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 20th March 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is, again, a film I have seen before and, again, I took more out of it on a second viewing. This one seems to cover all the bases; drama, romance, comedy, thrills; it’s got the lot to varying degrees. The first time I saw it, it was the comedy that stood out; this time I was more struck by the drama of it. But more of my thoughts later, here’s a brief summary first (summary haters and those that don’t wish to know anything about the plot please take a tour of Bruges while I write the next paragraph).

Two hit men, Ray and Ken have been sent to lie low in Bruges (Belgium, for those that don’t know where it is) by their boss, Harry, after a bungled hit. They check into their hotel only to find, to their dismay, that they will be sharing a room. This does not go down well, but it’s near Christmas and everywhere is fully booked. The two men are complete opposites, Ken is quite cultured and is happy to go sightseeing in the medieval city. Ray, on the other hand, is much younger and would be happier spending his time in a bar. Ken insists they do some culture and Ray acts like a bored teenager. That is until he discovers a film crew who have a dwarf in the cast, he is fascinated with Jimmy. There he also meets the mysterious Chloe, who he invites out on a date. That evening Harry calls and tells Ken the real purpose for their visit. I will leave my summary here so as not to enrage the spoiler police too much.

I think the Bruges tourist board will be very happy with this film; the medieval architecture comes across beautifully. The cinematography is great and the setting adds real atmosphere. Great performances all round, particularly from; Colin Farrell as Ray, Brendan Gleeson as Ken and Ralph Fiennes as Harry, all were excellent. Honourable mentions also go to; Clémence Poésy as Chloe and Jordan Prentice as Jimmy, both were very good.

As I said at the beginning, there is a lot of comedy in this film, it’s mainly in the things Ray says and does. Few films make me laugh out loud, but this one did in more than a couple of places. The drama comes mainly in the final third and I found it didn’t quite have the impact it might have done. I guess the comedy reduced the force of the dramatic conclusion, although by then the comedy is very, very dark. The ending, I felt, was a little bit of a let-down, I expected something much bigger. But over all, a very enjoyable film with some laughs, excellent cinematography and some great performances… Recommended.

My score: 8.1/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/in_bruges/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi783417625/

Film Review: GREEN ZONE (2010)

Director: Paul Greengrass
Running time: 115 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Thriller/Action/Adventure/War
UK release date 12th March 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 29th January 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This film has had a bit of a slating by certain critics and I know it didn’t go down too well with many in the USA. Given all this controversy I decided it might be worth a viewing and I can see how it might get certain sections of society a bit riled up. What I saw was an entertaining film, a work of fiction based on recent events in Iraq. But more of what I think later, here’s a brief summary first (summary haters please search that building for WMDs while I write the next paragraph).

Roy Miller is a soldier tasked with investigating sites identified as holding Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) soon after the invasion of Iraq. After coming up empty each time he begins to question the validity of sources used to obtain this information. The top brass aren’t interested and just fob him off but a CIA operative, Martin Brown, is sympathetic to his dilemma. Whilst investigating a site (& coming up empty yet again) an Iraqi civilian approaches Miller’s unit and tells him that he has seen some ex-republican guard commanders meeting at a house nearby. This civilian ‘Freddy’ is brought along as an interpreter and they set off to intercept the meeting. Capturing one of the insurgents, they find out that a General Al Rawi was attending. Miller takes a notebook from the prisoner before a Special Forces unit, lead by Briggs, intercepts and takes the prisoner away. The notebook Miller has taken has the key to finding the General and others, with much darker, political, agenda’s would like to get hold of him for their own means. I’ll leave it there as I don’t want to give the whole plot away.

There have been several films made on the subject of this conflict, but this one stands out as one that questions the reasons for the war in the first place. The US government are portrayed as very uncaring and only out to cover up anything that might make them look bad in the eyes of the world. Yes, it’s all very political! Decent performances all round; Matt Damon did a decent job as Miller and Brendan Gleeson was pretty good as Martin Brown. Honourable mentions also go to; Greg Kinnear as Clark Poundstone, “Hello” to Jason Isaacs, with a tremendous moustache, as Briggs and Amy Ryan as journalist Lawrie Dayne. I also thought that Khalid Abdalla was excellent at the Iraqi civilian, Freddy.

Now, as I’ve already said this film is very political, but it is also a very good thriller with a lot of action thrown in for good measure. As a piece of entertainment I found it very adequate although I could see the plot being a bit over-complicated for some. At the end of the day I thought it was an entertaining thriller set against the aftermath of the Iraq war that asks some tough questions of those that brought the war about in the first place. Recommended.

My score: 7.1/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0947810/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1202804-green_zone/
Official Site: http://www.greenzonemovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi447415577/