BoondockSaints

The Boondock Saints (1999)

Note: for this review I watched the director’s cut on the Blu-Ray that was just released. If you are going to watch The Boondock Saints this is the way to go.

The MacManus brothers are nice guys that like to party. When some Russian mobsters try to close their bar down on St. Patrick’s Day they get into a fight with them. Later the mobsters show up at their apartment trying to kill them, though it is the brothers who walk away from it. This leads them to the idea that they should track down and kill the wicked men that are all over the streets of Boston. So they become vigilantes taking out the men that are beyond the grasp of law enforcement. This works out nicely until the mob gets Il Duce out of jail. Il Duce is a legendary and bloodthirsty assassin who is now looking for the MacManus brothers. Much mayhem and bloodshed ensues!

This is a strange movie for me. I mean I do enjoy it, but I don’t watch it very often. Partly this is due to some issues that I do have with the movie and how it is constructed. But more on that later, lest start with some positives.

The story is pretty basic with a pair of brothers that are inspired by the fallout of their bar fight to become vigilantes. They wrap themselves up in religion and think that they are punishing the wicked. This gives the movie an excuse for lots of random violence as the brothers go after one mob guy after another. Who doesn’t like tons of shootouts and violence? Not only that but it is very stylized and with tons of slow motion and guys standing face to face letting go with everything they have. I also think that the cast is pretty good with Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as the MacManus brothers. While the Boondock Saints doesn’t require much acting both are realistic and have some charisma in their roles. Though personally I think that Willem Dafoe as the FBI agent named Smecker who is in pursuit of the brothers steals the movie. He is by far the most interesting thing to watch in every scene that he is in. I loved his quirky character and how it was played. But that also leads me into the negatives.

While I like the character played by Willem Dafoe the rest of the movie is trying too hard to be “hip”. 1st up there is this unnecessary bit with a cat that I though was just in there to show that this was going to be an ultra violent and cool flick. But it comes off to me as trying too hard. Also while I like much of the action scenes some do go just a bit over the top to the point of being dumb. The movie establishes that Il Duce (played by Billy Connolly) and the MacManus brothers are excellent shots. But they must shoot a hundred rounds at each other while standing in the open with only flesh wounds resulting? Again it just seems to me that the movie is trying too hard. Oh and speaking of Connolly he is totally wasted here. He has just a few lines and while his character is interesting he doesn’t get enough screen time.

Another thing that has always bugged me about The Boondock Saints is the editing. We see flashbacks or worse yet the Dafoe character is walking thru the actions and prancing around the scenes while the brothers are going about their business. Also the narrative jumps all around and there is a sudden cut to 3 months later for the ending of the movie, but there isn’t any explanation of what happened or what is going on. Sometimes a movie can try too hard to be clever.

Pulp Fiction started the trend in the ‘90s and early ‘2000s for this kind of flick and The Boondock Saints fits nicely in. So if you like that kind of movie then this one might be up your alley. And I know that I sound a bit harsh here, but I do like the movie in spite of it’s flaws. But those flaws are most likely why I don’t revisit this one much. Oh and one other thing that I just had to mention. The director/writer of The Boondock Saints, Troy Duffy, was “discovered” by Harvey Weinstein from Miramax, which of course also produced and had a big hit with Pulp Fiction. Perhaps they were trying to strike lightning again? Just giving you something to think about. The Boondock Saints is a decent, but not great movie.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer