Eye Candy #204 - "In Bruges"

In Bruges: A dark, dark comedy that can’t decide how funny aor serious it wants to be.  Two Irishmen hit men go on the lam in Bruges, Belgium, after one of them kills a child during a hit.   Ken (Brendan Gleeson) is taken with the quaint medieval quality of  Bruges, its history and architecture, while Ray (Colin Ferrell) just wants to go home to Dublin or, barring that, schtooping as many local birds as he can find.  Both Ray and Ken are grapple with crises of conscience, Ray for killing the child, and Ken for his next assignment.  They also have to deal with their boss,  Harry (Ralph Fiennes, in the best role in the film), who is trying to clean house.  Sure, there is some funny  dialogue (and if you saw the trailer for the film, you’ve seen them all) and the three lead performances are good.  It can be very light, but there is also some incredibly brutal violence and bloodletting, which gives the film a tone that shifts wildly back and forth to the detriment of the film.  When I saw the preview, I was hoping for better.  I didn’t get “better“.  I got “okay”.  Woodchuck sez, “Just…okay.”