In Bruges
Focus Features | Release Date: February 8, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
26
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
An endlessly surprising, very dark, human comedy, with a plot that cannot be foreseen but only relished. Read full review
100
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The movie gradually deepens from odd-couple comedy into Catholic-themed drama, but it remains marvelously funny throughout. Instead of hitting the easy notes of black humor, McDonagh skillfully modulates between broad character laughs and the men's piercing anguish as the story nears its bloody conclusion. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
When it's funny, it's hilarious; when it's serious, it's powerful; and either way, it's an endless pleasant surprise. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Sharply written, superbly acted, funny and even occasionally touching. Read full review
83
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Tightly scripted and intricately plotted, the buddy film manages the neat two-step of being simultaneously profane and engaging. Read full review
80
Washington PostJohn Anderson
Those who know McDonagh's work know a vein of darkness will run deeply through the comedy. It has seldom been darker. Or funnier. He has made a hit-man movie in which you don't know what will happen and can't wait to find out. Every movie should be so cliched. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The heroes are two hit men, and the tone is often absurdist. But the film is also very funny and surprisingly affecting. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Dark, hilarious and oddly moving. Read full review
80
Film ThreatJeremy Mathews
In a film full of great performances, Ralph Feinnes steals the show as Harry, the boss. Read full review
80
EmpireDamon Wise
With In Bruges, the British gangster movie gets a Croydon facelift. It may not be new, but it’s a wonderfully fresh take on a familiar genre: fucked-up, far-out and very, very funny. Read full review
75
PremiereGlenn Kenny
This finale, which piles one bloody absurd epiphany on top of another almost ad infinitum, is where McDonagh lays all his cards on the table -- and his characters are the ones who have to pay up. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
After playing one too many sullen poseurs it’s clear Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes had a ball making an inky black comedy seething with grandiose invective. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A perfectly titled and thoroughly engaging -- if at times gleefully violent -- black comedy. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
A haunting and hypnotic movie, just the thing to get lost in. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Witty and lively, with a soul to it, as well. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Little more than a shaggy-dog tale about two hit men killing time in the picturesque, medieval Belgian city of the title, goosed with crackling dialogue and generous dollops of gore. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
In Bruges, at its best, works like "Pulp Fiction" with Irish (and Belgian) accents, digressing into weird discourse and giving a bunch of actors the occasion to shine in small, peculiar roles. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Dry humor keeps In Bruges fresh and lively and makes it a whole lot of fun to watch. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJames Greenberg
Chock full of wonderful lines delivered by a splendid cast, the film toys with the conventions and mostly transcends the limitations. Read full review
70
VarietyRobert Koehler
Closer to pics like “The Hit” and “Miller’s Crossing” than to McDonagh’s bristling, funny plays, this half-comic, half-serious account of two Irish hitmen who are sent to the titular Belgian burg to cool their heels after a job is moderately fair as a nutty character study, but overly far-fetched once the action kicks in. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
A dark comedy with a melancholy streak and punchy sense of humor. Read full review
70
SlateDana Stevens
A jolly mess of a movie. Overplotted, choppy, and contrived, it nonetheless has a curious vitality that makes you wonder where McDonagh will go next. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The acting is top-notch. Colin Farrell, who seems to be gravitating increasingly toward smaller films, effectively channels his manic energy. He and Brendan Gleeson display chemistry in the Odd Couple vein, occasionally giving rise to instances of humor. Ralph Fiennes plays one of the most twisted roles of his career. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The setting is unique, the cast is terrific, the dialogue crackles and, if only there were a plot worth believing, In Bruges might have been a fine film. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The banter between these unlikely partners seems inspired by Quentin Tarantino's ingeniously insipid dialogue, delivered with indelible deadpan sincerity by John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in "Pulp Fiction." Neither the dialogue nor the characters are as interesting here. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Fiennes's energy gets the film over the finish line. Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Mr. Gleeson, Mr. Farrell and especially the late-arriving and welcome Mr. Fiennes have great fun rummaging around inside Mr. McDonagh’s modest bag of tricks. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Neither star is sloppy, but both are loose and mellow -- a couple of pros who know they're the whole show. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
It's a showpiece for that Belgian city's medieval splendor. You may want to book vacation reservations upon leaving the theater, although the memory of this underwhelming movie may tarnish the sightseeing. Read full review
50
Village VoiceElla Taylor
Bruges may be the movie's rather too-long-running joke, but Farrell's shaggy brow is easily the most entertaining thing in Irish playwright Martin McDonagh's first foray into the crime caper. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The film's light comedy and dark morality make for an unsettling mix. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
As formulaic in its own way as anything mainstream Hollywood turns out, In Bruges is also a fish-out-of-water comedy. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
For In Bruges to click, McDonagh needed either to get more real or more fake. Read full review
40
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
No one wants a movie that tiptoes in step with political correctness, yet the willful opposite can be equally noxious, and, as In Bruges barges and blusters its way through dwarf jokes, child-abuse jokes, jokes about fat black women, and moldy old jokes about Americans, it runs the risk of pleasing itself more than its paying viewers. Read full review
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