In Bruges (2008)

Colin Farrell is a real talent, something that's easy to forget sometimes because he has a tendency to coast for a paycheck in American movies. I noted with glee that this is currently barely in the IMDb's "top 250 movies." Probably can't hang in there for long, but the fact that enough voters saw it and loved it enough for it to be listed for even a short time is pretty great.

This worked on several levels - and often managed to do so at the same time. I'd start out giggling (e.g. a scene where a 50ish guy with a lollipop is karate-chopped) and be suddenly sobered by the real emotional twist that came immediately thereafter. The quirk worked and so did the danger.

Also, the little boy's confession list may have been one of the best pieces of writing I've seen in years: "1. being moody, 2. being bad at maths, 3. being sad" - just heartbreaking.

A