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The Boondock Saints
Directed by: Troy Duffy
Starring: Sean Patrick Flanery
Genre:
Action/Adventure
Run Time: 110
min.
Release Date:
January 2000
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
THE BOONDOCK SAINTS
is a movie with some great characters and one big plot problem.
The film's premise is interesting and gives a new take on an old movie
theme: vigilantism. Charles Bronson of the DEATH WISH series
rules the roost for such films, but all of these are seriously dated
now. DEFIANCE (1980), starring Jan-Michael Vincent, was another
great flick that focused on a citizen taking the proverbial bite out of
crime in an otherwise corrupt neighborhood. So I was pleased to see
something a bit fresher appear on celluloid with this oft-thought-of
overused message.
In The Boondock Saints we find twin brothers Connor and Murphy
MacManus taking on the vigilante mantle by any bloody means necessary.
And I do mean bloody. They also view themselves as instruments of God
(as seen in the opening sequence in which they are in church listening
to the funerary services for an innocent victim). Once on the streets,
they tuck their crosses beneath their shirts and pull out their chosen
weapons ...usually ones infused with gunpowder. They also say a special
prayer before shooting their final bad-guy of the day, a prayer their
father taught them. Oh. And their Irish, in case you didn't catch their
last names. So we have to have the typical Irish pub in the area. And
this is where much of the movie's success comes from. The absolutely
amazing characters are what drives it.
The pub owner is an old Irish coot who is being forced to sell his bar
by the local Russian mob. But when the vigilante brothers show up and
learn of it, they quickly make sure one of their favorite hangouts isn't
manhandled by any outsiders. The Irish pub owner is thankful to the
brothers, and it's amazingly funny how he thanks them because the old
guy has Tourettes Syndrome (a tic disorder that often results in
uncontrollable cursing outbursts).
The Irish brothers also have a close friend named "Funny Man" Rocco
(played by the coked-out looking David Della Rocco) who has mob issues
of his own. His "boss" is trying to rub him out and when Funny Man
learns of it, he takes matters into his own hands as well as becoming a
third party to the MaManus brothers' cause.
Hot on their tails is flamboyantly gay FBI agent Paul Smecker, played by
Willem Dafoe. It is Dafoe's character that really elevates The
Boondock Saints to a higher level. His witty comments and
astonishing detective abilities mixed with his social/sexual preferences
are pulled off effortlessly. Watching him go over a crime scene while
listening to opera is something to be marveled at.
The downside is that this is a pretty bloody flick, spilling as much
crimson as any slasher film. But the biggest issue some may have is that
there's no background for the MacManus brothers. The audience never
learns what trigger set them onto this path, so the viewers are just
supposed to take what they're doing at face value. That's a pretty big
pill to swallow. Set-up is important in the movies. But here's the
thing. The Boondock Saints has such great characters, most
watchers probably won't even notice this glitch.
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Image from The Boondock
Saints
DVD cost: $14.99
Purchase:
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Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
The church where Connor
and Murphy attend Mass, Church of the Covenant, is not a Catholic
church, but a Protestant one. No Catholic churches in the area would
allow filming in their sanctuaries due to their objection to the plot of
the film.
Movie Quote: "All
the low-lifes in Boston start dropping dead and you think it's
unrelated."
Other Actors/Actresses
from The Boondock Saints
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