In Bruges, Belgian for brilliant

In theaters Friday: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Role Models, Soul Men

New on DVD: Get Smart, Kung Fu Panda, Trans-Siberian

First things first on In Bruges: It is the feature film debut from writer-director Martin McDonagh, and it is clear we’ve got a brave new voice with some major potential here. McDonagh’s 2004 release Six Shooter won an Oscar in the short film category, and my quest for this little gem of indie cinema is on like Donkey Kong. Secondly, In Bruges proves that Colin Farrell is criminally underused. Can’t we all put Alexander behind us at this point? The Irish brute can do charismatic. He can do distraught. He can do comedy or action—in this case he flexes both—and do it while carrying a picture, because no one stateside knows who Brendan Gleeson is unless they’ve paid very close attention to the recent Harry Potter movies.

After scoring a big hit, Farrell and Gleeson are an odd couple of assassins on the lam in Bruges, Belgium, a homely township with just enough medieval charm, ancient churches, cobblestone streets and “fairytale” squares to drive Farrell mad. As they hideout in a bed and breakfast and spend their days sightseeing, Farrell falls for a mysterious young woman working on a local film crew, and Gleeson gets some disturbing orders from their London-based crime boss, played by a snaky Ralph Fiennes. Where In Bruges falters is its unpredictable wavering between comedy and drama. But that is also its strength, keeping audiences guessing till the very end. Otherwise it could be seen as Guy Ritchie-lite, a watered-down British gangster flick.

But McDonagh’s screenplay is much smarter than that. It is a morality tale about finding a new love for life, even if you’ve made mistakes that seem impossible to move past. The rest is filled with real world suspense, sly British humor worthy of a Tony-winning play capped off by a moving performance from Farrell. In Bruges is one of those movies that snuck in under American radars, but should live a second, longer life on DVD. Fans of Layer Cake, Match Point and RocknRolla should dig it. The more I think about it, the higher up it moves on my list of favorite films of the year.