We know what you're thinking, "Oh good, yet another Guy Ritchie, tough-Brits rip-off for closet anglophiles to quote from literally ad nauseum." We know, because that is exactly what we thought when we saw the trailer and what we would have continued to think had In Bruges's studio not bought a bunch of ads all over the site and then invited us to a screening on a night when we didn't have anything to do. Lo and behold, it was good. As in, we-would-have-actually-paid- to-see-it good. Maybe this sounds like a "huge conflict of interest" to you, but maybe you sound like the type of person who wears those "brandless" Adbusters sneakers and could stand with taking it easy once in a while. Did you ever stop to think of that, smartass?Our guess is what happened here is the same sort of thing that happened with the trailer for Bad Santa. But in this case, instead of making a hilarious comedy look like a shitty comedy, they've managed to make a fairly dark and serious movie look like a shitty comedy. By the by, how great was that scene where Bernie Mac says man is a "sexual being" and John Ritter makes that face where it looks like he's going "Ooooh" while shaking his head? I never thought either of those guys had it in them.Anyways, yes, there is a liberal handful of "gangsters out of their element" gags sprinkled throughout In Bruges and some clunkers among them, but there are also a number of parts that'll make your brain go "Wait, what?" and those tend to predominate. On whole, the movie is a far sadder and deeper beast than the madcap britcom it looks like. Kind of like Sexy Beast, actually, or The Limey but with Peter Fonda's skeezy debauched-boomer vibe mericully subbed out for Brendan Gleeson's kindly, fun uncle vibe. Honestly, I don't care how much blood Mr. Bad Boy Colin Farrell (said with finger quotes) may or may not have on his hands, if I was hanging out with Brendan in a provincial little Belgian town for a week, seeing all the pretty buildings and feigning interest in his little guide-book tours, it would be smiles for miles. I mean, in an uncle-y sort of way. Look, I don't want to fuck Brendan Gleeson, I just enjoyed this movie. Is that too hard for you to fucking deal with?VICE STAFFIn Bruges opens today in a few cities and nationwide in the next couple of weeks or so. Click on one of those ads if you want to enter a raffle for a free trip to Bruges, Belgium. Or click here.