The Boondock Saints (1999)
Fraternal twins set out to rid Boston of the evil
men operating there while being tracked down by an FBI agent.
Director:
Troy Duffy
Writer:
Troy Duffy
Stars:
Willem Dafoe,
Sean Patrick Flanery,
Norman ReedusStoryline
Two Irish brothers accidentally kill mafia thugs. They turn themselves in and are released as heroes. They then see it as a calling by God and start knocking off mafia gang members one by one. Willem Dafoe plays the detective trying to figure out the killings, but the closer he comes to catching the Irish brothers, the more he thinks the brothers are doing the right thing.
The Boondock Saints Movie Reviews
I guess it'll take a
while for the effect to where off. I saw the unrated edition of "The
Boondock Saints" two days ago and I'm still reeling in from the
experience, which is surreal, to tell you the truth. Quite frankly, a
movie that is this sharply written, acted, and directed is a true rarity
these days. Writer-director Troy Duffy dives into the murkiest depths
of the "law," and its apparent futility in modern times, and how it
takes two Irish fraternal twin brothers, Conner and Murphy (Sean Patrick
Flanery and Norman Reedus - both of whom are a little too convincing in
their roles), to stir up enough debate about vigilantism to become
media heroes. The release of "The Boondock Saints" was sidelined in 1999
because of the Columbine massacre and the plot about Conner and Murphy
being on a mission from God draws some eerie parallels to the motives of
Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. As the film opens in
Boston after St. Patrick's Day, Conner and Murphy get into a bar-room
brawl with a couple of Russian toughs and said toughs are discovered the
next morning in an alley in piles of their own blood and guts. FBI
agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) shows up on the scene to show the
local cops a thing or two about criminology and theorizes it was a
revenge killing. Soon enough, both injured brothers waltz into the
police station and claim self-defense. They're let off after a night in
jail (plus experience a cathartic jail-cell baptism) and no charges
filed. But soon, more bodies turn up, and Smecker learns that Conner and
Murphy (and a third, David Della Rocco) may be the ones behind the
mayhem on the streets. Duffy's film is a bloody one (most of the
gruesome violence is extended in the unrated special edition), with a
cackling screenplay that includes 246 uses of the f-word and assorted
Irish-Euro-slang, and has earned a fearsome reputation in recent years
and has been embraced as a cult phenomenon. (It's easy to see why, if
one is a fan of relentless violence and bloodshed. P.S.: The action is
so balletic in its style and excess that it's almost reminiscent of a
John Woo picture.) I can't believe I stood away from this movie for so
long, darn it! The opening moments don't prepare you for what comes up
next and even though the action (which there is quite a bit of and, as
stated earlier, is extended in the unrated version) is quite bloody,
there's a morbid sense of humor running throughout the carnage and I
fell out laughing on more than one occasion during this picture. And
still, there is a sense of beauty and tragedy underlying much of the
action in "The Boondock Saints," and its ending will certainly leave a
bitter taste in the mouths of some. Lastly, I would recommend reading up
on as much about the controversy surrounding "The Boondock Saints" as
one possibly can; it'll make the experience much more hypnotic.
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