In Bruges/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Acceptable Ethnic Targets: Jimmy, the dwarf actor, believes in an upcoming race war (although he later claims that was the cocaine talking).

Ken: You from the States?
Jimmy: Yeah. But don't hold it against me.
Ken: I'll try not to. Just try not to say anything too loud or crass.

    • Played with in that case, though, as the "American" Ray freaks out on for being a typical American was actually Canadian.
  • Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: "Well I can't shoot you now, can I?" Of course, it goes to hell soon after that.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: "On Raglan Road" performed by The Dubliners.
  • Deus Ex Machina: Harry, an experienced gunman, somehow manages to accidentally shoot a dwarf (obviously a smaller target than an adult) through another person who is himself several feet away, in such a way that the dum-dum round he is using succeeds in making the dwarf's head explode, despite not having the same effect on the other person who was hit by the round (and the round apparently not being slowed down much by the effect of striking another person first). Bit of a push, no?
  • Dude, Not Funny: The "Race War" dialogue drew this reaction from some critics. Most were still highly praising of the rest of the film. Most likely a case of Critics Are Morons - almost everyone else in that scene was uniformly disgusted, especially Ken, and the actor himself later blames it on cocaine, a drug that can quite easily turn nice guys into arrogant arseholes.
  • Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: Word of God confirms it: Harry and Ray are (not literally) in purgatory, awaiting their judgement and deciding between good and evil.
    • "Maybe that's what Hell is, an entire eternity spent in fucking Bruges."
  • Fridge Brilliance: The (quite racist) discussion on a "race war" between all the world's blacks and all the world's whites could very well be symbolic for the fight between heaven and hell - a central theme in the film. Ray casually asking where the Vietnamese fit in could, in turn, be a comment on purgatory -- the in-between place. And Ray commenting that it would be quite a sight to see could refer to the Hieronymus Bosch painting.
    • Ken's lie about Ray stating "I know I'm awake, but it feels like I'm in a dream." It can be applied to the climax: the movie Jimmy was filming depicts a dream sequence as stated by Chloe; the wounded Ray runs through people dressed like the creatures in Bosch's painting of purgatory that was discussed earier in the film; Harry shoots who he thinks is a child, then kills himself.
  • Fridge Horror: Why on earth might Harry have wanted that priest killed? Well, he hates anyone who harms a child...
    • Nope, sorry. The extended scenes clearly say the reason Harry wanted the priest dead was because the priest's church was on his turf and there was a territorial dispute. I doubt Harry would go out of his way to kill anyone who wronged a child.
  • Fridge Logic: Harry is using "dum-dum" bullets -- either hollow point or soft point bullets -- when he shoots Ray. But they would expand when they hit Ray, and would be far less energetic when they strike Jimmy.
  • He Really Can Act: Colin Farrell. So notable that it won him a (very unexpected) Golden Globe for Best Actor.
  • Tear Jerker