The Secret of the Wednesday’s Haul

Have you heard the one about two hitmen who walk into a bar in Bruges, Belgium?

Well, that actually does happen in Martin McDonagh new movie In Bruges but it’s not the main point. Two hitmen, Ray (Collin Farrel) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are shipped off to Bruges after a botched hit for at least two weeks. They await the call of their boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) to tell them whether they can come home early. It’s an Odd Couple scenario as one of them (Ken) goes with the flow and enjoys playing tourist while Ray can’t stand being there and lets Jimmy know that every possible minute. As we find out, Jimmy has his reasons for hating why they’ve been banished from London.

The Bruges in the movie is far from the rural hamlet that it appears to be. Yes, there’s old churches, bell towers and all kind of old and revered culture. But there’s also a movie being shot, featuring American dwarf actor Jimmy (Jordan Prentice.) It also features a girl , Chloe (Clemence Posey,) her skin head boyfriend, and gun runners. If you’re expecting a nice little travelogue, look somewhere other than this film. While the film shows the sights and sounds of Bruges, the focus is purely on the hitmen and the consequences of the job that they do and the people they work for. As the movie goes on and on, you find out that both Ray and Ken have their own sins that they need to pay for. Strolling through an art museam, they talk about heaven and hell and that other place. Ray can’t remember the place but Ken reminds him it’s called “purgatory.” Maybe Bruges is purgatory for the two men, the place for them to be cleansed of their sins.

McDonagh’s screenplay is fresh and mostly lively. It gets long in the middle but I’m beginning to think it has to, as you begin to realize the depths of Ray’s misery and despair and the heights of Ken’s friendship and loyalty. Even Jimmy, seemingly introduced as a joke, gets some nice moments to shine and ends up being a key piece in the resolution of the movie.

The strongest supporting role is Ralph Fiennes as Harry. Perhaps his name is a nod to Harry Lime, Orson Welles’ character in the Third Man. Like Lime, Harry is talked about and waited for most of the movie. When Harry finally does show up in Bruges, the conflict becomes a matter of honor as each of the three men fight for what they believe is important for them. These three villains are all honorable men in their own fashion and it’s strangely hard not to admire them for that. They each own up to the mistakes that they’ve made in life.

The movie switches between being a nominal travelogue to an intervention to finally a good old fashioned shootout. The ending of the movie does a nice job bringing all the elements of the movie together as you realize nothing was done haphazardly in this story. It’s fun to watch as McDonagh dances with his characters, never ignoring one for the other and giving all of their stories a resolution. Again, everyone including the most third tier characters were introduced to play a certain and important part in the story. They all have their roles and their stories; they all have their purpose.

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