Beautiful People-- Comedically Suffering-- Karmically-Caused-- For "Two Weeks-- In Bruges-- Wichu?"

As another fantastic season of Mike White's The White Lotus (his third) comes to a blistering close-- I'm once again reminded of a particularly niche-in-specificity-- cinematic-subset-genre that I often find myself largely hankering for, drawing towards and returning back to. That of which I like to call-- "Beautiful People Being Utterly Miserable, While Totally Trapped In Paradise, & Comically Stuck On Vacation."

What should ostensibly be a totally fun time in the sun-- usually instead tends to give way to secrets, lies and long-gestating completely spiraling mental breakdowns. With a good smattering of violence-- blood-- and gore thrown in there, ya know… just for kicks. Which is all rather particularly apt based on this month's Peliplat prompt challenge: Underrated Comedy. One movie and one movie alone immediately came to my mind. And thus I began feverishly typing, with equal parts enthusiasm, exuberance, vim, vigour and entirely unmatchable sinister glee…

Martin McDonagh is a pretty big personal inspiration of mine. Full stop. From his plays, to his films, I've always loved his writing style. Now, what some might claim as me shamelessly ripping off and/or aping his work, I'd rather look at it as… shall we say… a… loving homage? Yeah, that. Let's go with that. *PHEW I'm covered* That's a blanket-statement-cure-all that works, right? Sure. Anyway, moving on!

McDonagh's stuff (like mine) is always fast-paced, quippy, pitch-black, and unapologetically offensive. His terrific first short film Six Shooter (2004) is obvi very good, in my not-at-all--humble opinion. It was actually so good in fact, that it won McDonagh his first-ever Academy Award for Best-Live Action Short. He has more than one of those ever-elusive Oscars, by-the-by. This bodes well for my long-dreamed-of future Awards chances, methinks.

McDonagh took all of that deserved Oscar-favoured goodwill he rightfully garnered and immediately implemented everything he had-- into his brilliant feature film directorial debut, In Bruges (2008).

Speaking of… "Beautiful People Being Utterly Miserable, While Totally Trapped In Paradise, & Comically Stuck On Vacation" (great segue, I know) there's nothing funnier than watching Colin Farrell mope around all depressed-like in what his boss's boss, Harry, (Ralph Fiennes) obsessively and rather repetitiously to the point of assuredly certifiable insanity, often refers to as-- "a magico-fahree-tai-ole-f*****'-pwace”.

I've always liked Farrell as a performer, even if some of the film's he's been in haven't particularly served him well. His role here as Ray however, was the first genuine time whereupon I felt like we actually really, truly got to see him honestly shine. While I have the utmost respect for actors who can seamlessly switch between accents for different roles (and I do), I really appreciate when a film allows an actor to just use their regular accent. See Two Current Aussie Examples for instance: Sam Worthington & Jai Courtney. Put either of them, or even better both-- into a gritty Australian Crime-Thriller, and I'm so there.

Having Farrell play a snarky, anxious, depressed, Irish hitman who's both totally guilt-ridden, loves cocaine, and is utterly obsessed with the supposedly secret-world-inner-workings and underpinnings of “Little People” and their culture, somehow… just… feels… right.

In Bruges is the film that truly changed the way I look at Farrell's career. Past, Present & Future. Post-Bruges, I've seen every single film he's been in-- just because of him. All facts. No printer.

And if nothing else, Bruges gives us single-handedly the best use of Farrell and his perfectly-formed eyebrows doing the very best “Eyebrow Acting” I've ever seen. When in doubt, down below is always one of my prime-time-fav-go-to-GIFs that's always good whenever you find yourself in an online pinch. Ya know, whenever I don't know something. Which happens a lot more often than I care to admit. Shh!!

McDonagh's script is pitch-perfect and infinitely quotable. Unfortunately none of which I can really in earnest repeat here without ***** everything out as it's safe to say that 99% of the dialogue in In Bruges is highly NSFW. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Pretty much every single scene of the film lives rent-free in my head. Real talk, give me refreshingly un-PC, pitch-to-the-darkest-of-black-humour-- any-- day-- of-- the-- week. And-twice-on-Sunday.

The earmark of a good comedy is not just how hard it makes you laugh-- nor how often it makes you laugh that hard. It's also how much it makes you laugh and how hard it makes you laugh-- time-- and time again. Immemorial and in perpetual perpetuity. Or something fancy-pants like that. I dunno. I never went to Law School. Passing The Bar is a real high bar, alright? So sue me. Or wait, don't. That part was a joke. No, I'm serious.

Now, most comedies have at least one or two really good moments here and there, mixed in with a sprinkling of decent chuckles throughout. In Bruges however is the kind of comedy that makes you laugh consistently the entire way through. One end to the other. On this most recent re-watch, I think I laughed out loud basically every two minutes or so. The Laugh-To-Joke Ratio is a perfect matching of 100% beat-for-beat. That's some real “Perfect Video Game Run” shadow-boxing-stats right there. Every single joke makes me laugh. And still makes me laugh. No matter how many times I've heard the punchline.

Allowing Colin Farrell to actually just “be funny” is one of the single best things Martin McDonagh's ever done. I tip my cap to you, sir! Things continue only getting funnier and funnier as the film progresses, once Ray (of course) snorts rail upon rail of coke before ranting and raving manic drug-fuelled-hypotheticals about world-ending future race-wars. Film as an art-form has truly peaked here. You can all go home now.

A buddy comedy only works though, if there's two people, like Kid 'n Play (ten points if you get the reference). A perfect foil to Farrell's absolutely miserable Ray-- is Ken, played by the always-reliable Brendan Gleeson. If their opening scene full of wonderfully rapid-fire back-and-forth witty banter doesn't immediately sell you, then I honestly don't know what to tell ya.

I must always give credit where it's properly due. There's a particularly great bit of acting within acting-- that Gleeson does mid-way through the film that must be highlighted. I'll set the scene for you, Dear Reader:

-Ken's at the motel, stuck on the phone with Harry, meanwhile Ray's out on a date.

-Harry wants to give Ken some top-secret information, without Ray being privy.

-Harry, being Harry (great book title) insists that Ray be absent for this conversation.

-Ken being Ken, wants to protect Ray, so he does this whole elaborately charming and goofy charade over the phone for Harry's benefit, telling “Ray” (who's not really there) to go down to the pub for a pint.

Watching Gleeson as a very tired and beleaguered Ken, pretend to talk to a non-corporeal Ray while an over-the-phone OS Harry keeps yapping and yapping at him, before Ken finally opens the motel room door so as “to ensure” that “Ray” in empty space, has well and truly left the building-- is just *chef's kiss*. This whole exchange is just mined for all it's worth in complete comedy gold. Made even better by the fact that McDonagh shoots this all in one long unbroken Oner (one of my own personal favourite directorial techniques). Not to mention that playing on the hotel TV during the aforementioned Bruges Oner is the rather famous and faultlessly choreographed opening Oner from Alfred Hitchcock''s 1958 noir classic, “Touch of Evil”. Also, a nice touch there too. Game respects game.

While Fiennes is of course well known for playing all sorts of villains in all sorts of films, it's also brilliant of McDonagh to just let him ya know-- be funny too. While all his off-screen antics on-the-phone are great, it's when he finally shows up in the cinematic flesh, that the film goes to an entirely different, seemingly unachievable level. And oh boy, do they achieve it. Believe you, me!

Fiennes delivers what's easily maybe one of the best movie insults of all time? One which, I of course sadly cannot and shan't not repeat on here, but IYKYK. The above-photo is a still from another great scene of Harry acquiring as he calls it-- “ah nahmo gun, foe a nahmo purrsun”, while simultaneously and rather hilariously clarifying to The Buyer Who's Weirdly Obsessed With Alcoves, that he's "Not frohm Sowff-Centrowl-Los-F******-Angeles”. This scene also first taught me the use of the word “whinging”. So that there's a pretty indelible point too.

I could honestly watch scenes of just Fiennes and Gleeson, going at it, drinking and riffing and riffing and ripping into each other for hours. That's my utopia.

In Bruges is equal parts bloody, violent, profane, highly offensive and laugh-out-loud hilarious, from start to finish. I can't recommend it enough.

I also can't recommend enough Martin McDonagh's other films, Seven Psychopaths (2012), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) and most recently The Banshees of Inisherin (2022). The most recent of which as it happens, also just so happened to be my #1 Favourite Film of 2022. Of course followed closely behind by Top Gun: Maverick, in a very strong photo-finish-second.

Truth be told, I didn't even know where Bruges was-- or that it was even a real place to begin with-- before ever watching In Bruges for the very first time. I was fifteen at the time, alright. What do you want from me?

Now that I think about it, I've never even been to Bruges. One of these days though, I really should go. Seeing as Harry did indeed call it “a magico-fahry-tai-ole-f*****g-pwace”. If In Bruges taught me anything (other than the word ”whinging" and where Bruges itself be geographically located on a map), it's that when Ralph Fiennes tells you to "go and do somefin'-- you better get ahp and bloody-well go do dat very same fin'.