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Directed By
Troy Duffy
Written By:
Troy Duffy
Cast:
Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Willem Dafoe, Carlo Rota, Billy Connolly, David Ferry, Richard Fitzpatrick, Ron Jeremy, Dot Jones, Layton Morrison, Brian Mahoney, David Della Rocco, Bob Marley, Bob Marley, William Young, Robert Pemberton, Bill Craig, Scott Griffith
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Boondock Saints (1999)
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Movie Review by Chris
December 16th, 2008
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Favorite Movie Quote: "First, it was armageddon. Then there was a fire fight!"
As 'Boondock Saints' opens and introduces us to our characters, we find this usual trend to be unraveling. Directors like Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino bring us interesting and complex characters, and always backing that up is an interesting style of filmmaking. This is a film one must be really into to particularly enjoy it to it's full potential. I really didnt begin to get into it until about 30 minutes in, when it became interesting to know the McManus brothers and the story began unraveling. It's sad that 'Boondock Saints' never received a wide release, but director Troy Duffy has created a thrilling and excellent piece of film. One some may hate, but others worship. There are many lines in the dialogue and visceral scenes in the movie which I find to be just unforgettable. The directing is crafty, the characters are interesting and the story keeps us enthralled almost the entire running time.
Irish brothers Connor & Murphy McManus live and work in Boston. Feeling that God's will to rid Earth from all human Evil was given to them as a mission, they set out to do their divine deed. A public outcry is never heard, and even FBI agent Paul Smecker, who follows their trace of bloodshed, admits that the boys are doing exactly what he secretly always has wished to happen. Risking their lives for their beliefs of Veritas (truth) and Aequitas (justice), the Boondock Saints are hyped by the public, for they are doing good, which only few dare to admit.
The 90's began this trend in filmmaking where slow motion began taking over the action scenes we saw in most movie. With The Matrix beginning the so called "Bullet Time" theory, most films followed the example set by the Wachowski Brothers. There's not much action in 'Boondock Saints', but director Troy Duffy took an interesting approach to the scenes. As the brothers prepare for the fight ahead of them, seconds before they enter the room the film cuts ahead and shows police and detective Paul Smecker checking out the crime scenes. As Smecker brings the men around the scene and tells them what he thinks happened, the film layers into showing the fights from the point of view of the McManus brothers. In one particular scene where the brothers face off against II Duce, Smecker is literally in the middle of the firefight, but at a different time. The scenes overlap each other and cause for an interesting visual style to the shootout. This scene is my favorite of the movie, just because the way the opera enthused soundtrack plays around the yelling and screaming of the characters makes it so much more interesting then just showing a plain old boring gun fight.
There are not to many characters here, this isnt a Guy Ritchie movie and the plot doesnt ever get to confusing or mixed up with how the characters can be set for the climax. The McManus brothers, Connor and Murphy are played by Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus. Two Irish actors who take these roles and make them as real as possible. I can't really compare the two when it comes to their acting abilities. They look like brothers, they act like brothers and certainly play believable roles. In one scene, they are in air conditioning ducts preparing to make a hit, but they begin fighting and wrestling, causing the duct to break. This makes the fact that theyre brothers a little more believable, I felt as if they could have been real family.
Detective Paul Smecker is played by Willem Dafoe. Paul is a gay man who certainly shows his pride. Willem adds in a few little character moves such as the moving of his hands, or even the scan of a fellow police officer in one moment. Though Willem plays a gay role, I really thought he stands out here more then he did in lets say Spider-Man or really any other film he had a major part in. Smecker is smart and most of the time laughable, but thats supported by the films funny script. II Duce is played by Bill Connoly, a short role but one worth talking about. Bill brings the character some life, as dangerous and smart as he is, he's an awesome character. I mean, you have to like a senior citizen who can blow away anybody whenever he wants.
Director Troy Duffy also wrote the script for the movie, most of the film is dealt around religious aspects such as the brothers praying and some other things. A few of the major lines in the movie made its way into some failry popular songs. In the courtroom where the two brothers and II Duce say the prayer, this was the opening for a song entitled 1958 by A Day to Remember and the armageddon line during the II Duce shootout scene is used in a song by a metal band named Bleeding Through. The soundtrack for the movie is filled with opera and the eventual Irish tune, this I had no problem with because of my Irish ancestors.
'The Boondock Saints' is an amazing movie, one thats hard to come by. A sequel by Troy Duffy is now in the works and I hope it lives up to the mentality of the original.
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