Greetings again from the darkness. Award winning playwright Martin McDonagh brings his amazing writing talents to the big screen and scores with his first turn as a feature film director. The city of Bruges (yes, in Belgium) is the perfect setting for the multi-layered story. Its well preserved medieval architecture is like an character unto itself.

Colin Farrell delivers by far his best performance to date. He is funny, dangerous, sexy and emotional throughout. This is exceptional acting from a guy who tends to disappoint. Of course, it helps to have magnificent writing and this one most certainly delivers on that front. The dialogue is quirky and quick ... so tune in early.

Strong work also from Brendon Gleeson, who all will recognize from "Gangs of New York" and the Harry Potter series. He is a tough guy with a streak of humanity. The third piece of the puzzle is Ralph Fiennes as the mastermind bad guy. The supporting work is fine from Jordan Prentice as the dwarf actor (sadly Mr. Prentice is most famous for playing Howard the Duck) and a very cute Clemence Poesy as Farrell's odd love interest.

Very few writers can write dialogue like this and even fewer can juggle as many layers without making a film seem busy, crowded or forced. Hopefully Mr. McDonagh will bring more of his work to the big screen ... he certainly adds a touch of class!

London hit men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are sent to Bruges, Belgium to hid out by their boss Harry Waters (Ralph Fiennes). Ray had accidentally killed an innocent child. Ken takes in the sights but Ray would rather drink and go home. They encounter a film crew with a racist midget and Ray falls for Chloe Villette (Clémence Poésy). Ken is conflicted after Harry contacts him with the new orders.

It's funny and dark. Martin McDonagh has filled his film with a black comedic tone. Farrell fills it with his fidgety energy and troubled humanity. He's also hilarious delivering McDonagh's sharp insane dialog. One is never sure if Farrell is going to say something funny or hit somebody over the head or both. Gleeson provides the solid foundation.

WARNING--The language in this review is like the language in the movie--just not gratuitous!

Colin Farrell plays an assassin who is pretty much like 'Father Dougal' from the "Father Ted" television series, though he also is sadistic and thoroughly unlikable and obnoxious. Brendan Gleeson (from the Oscar-winning short SIX SHOOTER) plays a less obnoxious murderer. These are the two "funny" heroes of this film.

According to IMDb "The word 'fuck' and its derivatives are said 126 times in this 107-minute film, an average of 1.18 'fucks' per minute". To me, this combined with the fact that the leading men are assassins, is more than enough reason to hate this film. While at times it seemed pretty clever and even interesting, I found everyone so repellent and stupid that I just couldn't stick with the film. Life is too short to watch crude films like this and I hate films where there is no one to care about at all. Although this film IS in the IMDb top 250, I can assume that this is a film you'll either love or hate--but probably mostly love. If you are a rather traditional guy like me, you'll be irritated by the sloppiness of injecting the f-word into every other sentence and see it as not just offensive but poor writing. Any idiot can say obscenities again and again--this isn't a sign of brilliance but of inadequacy and this seems to be the recent trend in other supposedly "great" films. And, making hateful heroes is a sure way to drive away many in the audience. Truly a film you either love or hate.