“In Bruges” is thematically interesting but is covered in a layer of crass plaque. With two powerhouses of actors, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, the movie is at no loss for talent. However, “In Bruges” takes a very patient viewer if they don’t enjoy the humor of the movie. To give a rough statistic on how many of the jokes that landed for me was no more than 30%.

“In Bruges” takes place in Bruges, a city in Belgium, where two hitmen, Rey and Ken, go to lay low after a job goes wrong. The job that Ray and Ken had was to kill a priest, but they accidentally kill a young boy in the process. This weighs heavily on Ray and is the crux of most of the story that follows.

What is immediately enjoyable about “In Bruges” was its music. Carter Burwell, the film’s musical composer, did a fantastic job of creating a methodical and mysterious slow waltz that entrances the viewer into this world and the struggle the characters face in this movie. The themes of the music aren’t readily noticeable the first time that you hear it but further into the movie, it becomes very immersive and meaningful.

In one of the most moving scenes of the film, a fantastic song choice is made. Burwell chose to use a song called “On Raglan Road” by the Dubleners that can make anyone’s emotions well up. To choose such an iconic and rich Irish folk song that whether you are familiar with it or not the influence on the viewer can still be felt.

“In Bruges” is defined as a crime/comedy. However, this movie doesn’t seem to fit its genre and had the wrong impression when beginning to watch it. A better genre definition for this movie would be a Dark Comedy/Drama. One of the strongest moments of this movie’s comedic style is its use of gallows humor. Gallows humor fits this movie perfectly because it is about two hitmen that have done terrible things exploring this town that is rich in medieval historical and religious landmarks. There are many renaissance and golden age paintings in the film that foreshadow the events to come; however, the sense of detachment and crudeness that the movie displays initially takes one out of many scenes.

I would hesitate to recommend this movie on the sole reason that the humor is very hit or miss and wouldn’t want the quality of my recommendation to be sullied by recommending this to someone who wouldn’t like it. However, and you didn’t hear it from me, “In Bruges” is ok.