If you turn on the evening news, it’s inevitable. You’ll see people who steal, people who rape, people who murder, crime bosses freed no matter what horrendous crimes they have committed, child molesters moving into areas with schools filled with young children close by. Tell me that you’ve never felt the urge to take justice into your own hands and make them pay for their crimes. Almost everyone has felt it, but they’ve seldom acted on these feelings, but at least there’s a way to live out these wishes vicariously, though through film.

A lot of people have told me that I should see The Boondock Saints, knowing my love of movies like Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction, but here is a film that isn’t quite a parallel to these movies and instead is on the opposite side of the spectrum. However, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good film. Set in Boston, we find the MacManus brothers, Conner (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) who have been pushed a little too far. Their favorite bar is being bought out by the Russia mob and when the gangster come to close up the business early, and on St. Patrick’s Day no less, they take care of the mob, at least that’s what they thought.

Seeking revenge, the Russian’s come looking for them and the boys fight back, killing them in the process. The case gains the attention of FBI agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) who is surprised that the boys turn themselves in and after learning that it was nothing more than self-defense, they are let go. The brothers however have decided however to pursue their new vigilante lifestyle and soon team up with their friend Rocco (David Della Rocco) who has connections in the underworld. Every murder finds Smecker trying to piece the clues together until he finally reaches a point where he actually sees their work as the justice he so wants to deliver. But, the mob has men looking for them as well, one man in this case, the notorious Il Duce (Billy Connolly) and his vicious reputation puts the crusade in peril.

The Boondock Saints isn’t necessarily a tale of revenge, which is how it starts out, some much as it is just taking the law into your own hands, and again, I think this is something that everyone has felt at some point. The film in some ways reminds me of The Punisher (the comic, not the film) where you have one man trying to dispense justice that the authorities can’t do. However, despite how the film might sounds, it isn’t something that plays itself like Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs.

The violence in the film is show in a rather interesting way, and often we don’t see the events as they unfold. Instead, Smecker retells what he believes happened, and this is when we will see what occurred with Conner and Murphey. These sequences are often done in slow-motion, and a very interesting one actually has Smecker along side the boys as they take out more Mafioso, showing that he himself feels the same way they do, and at times what we see is even somewhat funny. The film also doesn’t rely simply on violence and blood for the sake of it, and we find behind the bullets and bloodshed a few different layers to the movie.

Saints at first is a story of vigilantism, and that soon begins to change. Once they’ve enlisted the help of Rocco, who isn’t quite as talent as the brothers, we see a very tight bond developing between the trio. There are some religious ties as well, but it’s not necessarily that the brothers believe that they are doing God’s work. In general, the Irish have a very strong Catholic faith, and we see that represented here not only by the pair going to church but also a prayer they recite before giving the “final verdict” to the criminals they have been hunting.

This film actually is the first for Troy Duffy in terms of both writing in direction, and his debut is quite impressive. The script itself is extremely well written, having plenty of light humor, but also relevance to events in everyday life that were as true back in 1999 as they are today. His visual style really could be compared to Tarantino at times, but Duffy really does have a style that’s all his own. The casting actually is what really makes this films, and while the combination of having Reedus and Flanery in a film (I still haven’t managed to get Flanery’s atrocious Demon Hunter out of my head) the pair work extremely well together, but the real stand out is Defoe as the gay FBI agent with a tendency to cross dress. It sounds outlandish, but it really does add to the film and brings in some more laughs as well.

The special edition for The Boondock Saints is a two-disc edition, nicely packaged in a collector’s tin. However, I’m a bit disappointed with the additional features and really expected to see a bit more. The film itself, the first disc, has commentary not only from Troy Duffy but a second track with Bill Connolly. The second DVD has a few extras, but not as many as you might think. There are a few deleted scenes (and I really would have liked the phone call home from mother to be included in the film), a short collection of outtakes, the original trailer (as well as Donnie Darko, another outstanding film), a printable script and bio’s on the cast and crew. However, that’s it. There isn’t a behind the scenes feature or anything of that nature, and those would have been fantastic additions for this release of the film.

The Boondock Saints really is a movie for the vigilante in all of us, and you know that you have one lurking deep inside, or maybe just beneath the surface. The film certainly isn’t overly violent (not that I’m bothered by something like that) and has the perfect balance between gripping story, humor, and a life of crime.
 

-mike-
 

Directed by: Troy Duffy   Written by: Troy Duffy   Cast: Willem Dafoe Sean Patrick Flanery Norman Reedus David Della Rocco Billy Connolly David Ferry Brian Mahoney Bob Marley

DVD Features: Disc 1: Commentary w/Troy Duffy Commentary w?Billy Connolly   Disc 2: Deleted scenes Outtakes Trailer Cast & Crew filmographies Printable script