Smelling of Tarantino and Ritchie, The Boondock Saints is proof that you can make great action thrillers on a budget. You just need a good story, actors, and one hell of a director. And a bit of luck, of course. For example, you need Willem Dafoe to channel his inner animal and give a magnetic performance. I mean, that scene in which he yells “there was a firefight” is a classic. And there are a lot of those scenes in this movie. He’s not the only one who gave an incredible performance here as all the leads were excellent.
The Boondock Saints is spiritually an Irish movie as we will be following two brothers who take the law into their own hands. And of course, all of this is happening in Boston. Now say that with a thick Bostonian accent. This brings us to the surprising amount of humor present here. Not only we will get the opportunity to hear some funny jokes but the entire atmosphere has this deliciously absurd vibe. I don’t know how to quite describe it, I guess you’ll have to see the movie in order to get it.
A lot has been said about the social commentary here but I think that it’s only a vehicle for this fun and effective movie. Vigilante movies are always going to cause a bit of a stir, ever since their explosion in the early seventies. Charles Bronson practically lived off those for a couple of decades. Although his Death Wish movies are much gloomier than this one. The Boondock Saints is one of those movies with huge replay value you can watch anytime. I suggest you include it in your holiday action movie list.
Connor and Murphy MacManus are two ordinary guys celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day with friends in their favorite bar. Out of nowhere, a group of Russian mobsters appears and all hell breaks loose. Our two brothers end up in jail but not for long. You see they had a revelation while they were incarcerated. And God himself has told them that they must dispatch all that is filthy and criminal in the city of Boston. Looks like our brothers are going to have their hands full…
I just love the storytelling in The Boondock Saints. It’s so straightforward and juicy. We examine each of the meticulously directed and executed shootouts in stunning detail all the while listening to Dafoe’s unhinged narration. And the atmosphere is just so cheerful and upbeat for a vigilante movie that it just puts you in a good mood. It’s so refreshing to see someone go in a different direction and try something new. Ten years later, we got a sequel The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day that’s watchable but nowhere near the levels the original set.
Director: Troy Duffy
Writer: Troy Duffy
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Billy Connolly, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Brian Mahoney
Fun Facts: The word “fuck” and its derivatives are used a total of 246 times.
Rating:
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144117/
