In Bruges: Third Time Is Still a Treat!

by Pa Rock

Film Fan

Perhaps one of the few positives to come out of this prolonged pandemic is that the streaming services are digging deeper and deeper into their vaults to come up with more viewing options for those of us who seem to be forever stuck at home.  Last week Prime coughed up one of my favorite movies, "In Bruges," a darkly comic tale about two hitmen who are sent to the medieval city of Bruges, Belgium, to hide out after they are involved in a contract killing that goes terribly wrong.

The movie had a great storyline, an incredibly good cast (Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes and several others of that caliber), and a setting where every scene could double as a travel agency poster.

When I discovered "In Bruges" as a new Prime listing last week, I immediately pulled the film up and watched it - for the third time - and was pleased to find that it was still enjoyable and intriguing.   It would, I thought, make a fine double-feature paired with another uncomfortably funny tale about hitmen, 1996's "Two Days in the Valley," which is on the road to becoming a cult classic.  I wrote about "Two Days in the Valley" two years ago in this space.

"In Bruges" came out in 2008, and I reviewed it in this blog in May of 2009.  As I reread that review, I was surprised to see that I had paired it with "Two Days in the Valley" even back then.   There must be something emotionally appealing about sympathetic hitmen that strikes a chord with my viewing appetites!

Anyway, "In Bruges," written and directed by Martin McDonagh, was every bit as entertaining on the third viewing as it was on the first.   Colin Farrell is mesmerizing as he struggles with his guilt over accidentally killing a child, and Ralph Fiennes, as the villain who hired the two likable hitmen, is fiendish to a fault - and Bruges is beautiful beyond the descriptive power of mere words.

Now I am ready for Prime to bring back "Two Days in the Valley" so that I can watch it for a third time also!