clock … watching time, the only true currency

The dark comedy In Bruges brightened my mood a few weeks ago. Previews highlighted comedy and Colin Farrell as a foul-mouthed lout of a gunman. Both are true, but the comedy is balanced with a sad strain that was unexpected. The balance helped the story.

Regarding the language: I was more bothered by the moments when I couldn’t understand the English language in all its (ahem) variety of accent and phrasing. Never descends to the incomprehensibility of Trainspotting, but I missed a few lines.

Metacritic: 67 is at least 5 points too low. You can wait for the DVD, but In Bruges is a satisfying movie.

A note on the title: while it’s quite possible that Bruges as metaphor for too-cute tourist town is common in Europe, those references felt forced to this American.