In Bruges is the tale of two gangsters banished to a small Belgian town on account of a botched murder. I wandered into this one as a way to kill an hour in the afternoon (and on account of a decent review in the paper), and was very pleasantly surprised. The number of times I found this film laugh-out-loud funny was surprising, the acting was touching, and the story had surprising depths.

Starring Colin Farrel as a remarkably believable “lovable idiot”, Brendan Gleeson as his minder, and Ralph Fiennes as the surprisingly scarey mob boss, the film contrasts the violence of the gangster scene with a beauty of a preserved medieval village, and pulls off a film Guy Ritchie could only dream of.

I was compelled by the characters almost immediately, and as I found myself drawn further into the story I enjoyed myself more and more. There are a few foibles in there, but none so bad as to demand criticism. As I say, laugh-out-loud funny in patches. “Racism dwarf”. Need I say more.

Get yourself along to this one before it finishes.

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