Hancock

Wanted

The Love Guru

Get Smart

The Incredible Hulk

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

Sex and the City

Savage Grace

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Surfwise

What Happens in Vegas

Iron Man

Son of Rambow

Ruthless London boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) hands out a difficult assignment.

Admittedly, the prospect of sitting through another hip, twisted, dark comedy about quirky hit men doesn't exactly set the anticipation meter pinging anymore. Then, along comes the sharp, hilarious, bloody and spectacularly well acted In Bruges, and all bets are off. The movie, which opened this year's Sundance Film Festival, features Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as Ray and Ken, an ill-matched pair of killers sent after an especially rough job to cool their heels in the perfectly preserved medieval Belgium city. While awaiting their marching orders, Ken, a hulk with the soul of a poet, soaks up the city's historic wonders while motor-mouthed lout Ray only wants to hit the pubs, score women and split. The twist comes when their ruthless boss Harry (Ralph Fiennes) announces another difficult assignment, spinning the plot into wildly entertaining avenues that involve an angry dwarf actor, a couple of hookers, a sexy beauty working on a local film shoot and a breakneck chase-shootout that gives the movie a melancholy, nihilistic afterglow.

Hit man Roy (Colin Farrell, right) passes his time in Bruges with an American actor (Jordan Prentice) and a potential new girlfriend (Clémance Poésy)

We're in hugely gifted hands here, starting with first-time feature director Martin McDonagh, who won a 2006 Oscar for his short Six Shooter, but who is best known for writing such fierce, moving, caustic and award-grabbing plays as The Pillowman and The Lieutenant of Inishmore. To say that McDonagh, who at 38 already enjoys a fantastic reputation as a dramatist, has a promising future in movies is an understatement. Gleeson and a never-better Farrell are in absolute peak form, secure in the knowledge that they're mouthing some of the most unexpectedly funny, shrewd and perceptive dialogue we're likely to hear in any movie theater this year. By the time we hit the blood-soaked and highly photogenic finale, we know that In Bruges has been that rare side trip well worth taking.

by Stephen Rebello

Photos: Jaap Buitendijk/ ™ & ©Focus Features Inc. All rights reserved.