It doesn’t get more Irish than a South Boston church on St. Patrick’s Day, the precise way the 1999 film “The Boondock Saints” opens, offering immediate insight to the setting and mood of the story that’s about to unfold.
Created by Troy Duffy (who to date his only film projects have been the “Saints” series’), “The Boondock Saints” stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as brothers who turn to vigilante style violence as a means of keeping the streets of their Boston neighborhood clean.
A perfect opening montage disperesed amidst the credits lets the viewer know all that they need to; Conner (Flanery) and Murphy MacManus (Reedus) have an unearthly sibling bond, are devoutly religious, and are standard blue collar working class stiffs from a typical Irish-American South Boston hood.
Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus certainly look the part; dressed in long dark coats and covered in primitive style tattoos, the men are nothing short of total bad asses. Each has gone on to stardom in various other roles, but their early performances in “The Boondock Saints” is easily one of the finest.
The “brothers” have a great chemistry on screen together, busting chops in a loving way, but never once turning their backs on the other. We get the sense that each would gladly sacrifice their own life if needed to save the other.
Writer/Director Troy Duffy does a great job of elevating inner city Boston to the forefront of the story. The city looks cold, and the streets dirty. But that doesn’t mean its inhabitants don’t have immense pride. The predominately Irish community is closely knit, and even the cops know it’s a long shot to find someone willing to identify a perpetrator.
As bloodshed reigns between various sects of organized crime, flamboyant FBI Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) is called in to investigate. Dafoe is brilliant in the role, and Troy Duffy depicts the movie and Smecker’s investigation with multiple flashback sequences, done in a format that’s both unique and compelling (you’ll have to watch to see what I mean).
While humerus at times, “The Boondock Saints” has more fists and bloodshed than “Friday the 13th,” though it’s done in an overly cartoonish fashion. It’s interesting to note the release of the movie was delayed for a week due to the Columbine High School massacre (how times have changed).
In Tarantino/indie style, text is displayed on screen identifying various key characters, such as MacManus brothers’ friend David ‘The Funny Man’ Rocco or Italian mafia boss Papa Joe (Carlo Rota).
While the story itself is far from original, “The Boondock Saints” still holds its own as unique. It does get a bit sluggish in the middle portion, and some excess characters and scenes push the running just a touch over what was called for, but its still something you must watch and enjoy.
“The Boondock Saints” can qualify for a mob movie, with the bloodshed and connections to Sicilian and Russian gangs, and a man movie with virtually everything else, so its a perfect plant for St. Patrick’s Day weekend – the equinox of both.
by – Matt DeCristo
