In Bruges

PHILIP FRENCH, THE OBSERVER: "Playwright Martin McDonagh, author of The Lieutenant of Inishmore, makes his feature debut as writer-director with In Bruges, a stylish, funny, exciting thriller in a tradition of tales about professional assassins that goes back through Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) and Pinter's The Dumb Waiter (1957) to Hemingway's The Killers (1927). It centres on two Irish hitmen, the edgy young novice Ray (Colin Farrell) and the reflective, more experienced Ken (Brendan Gleeson). They've been sent by their London boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), to await their next assignment in the quiet, beautiful, medieval, Belgian town of Bruges…McDonagh's plotting is fiendishly clever, his dialogue crashes in on us like a tide throwing nails ashore with each wave and his black humour is laced with serious moral issues."