Boondock Saints Movie

’’And Shepards We Shall Be,

It Filii...Spiritus Sancti.....BOOM!’’

Every once in a while a film slips through the cracks, which the critics missed out and so the audience missed out. Boondock Saints is a perfect illustration of this. It happens because of a glut of material on the market, mismanaged marketing campaigns and a variety of other reasons like the instant comparisons to a host of other flicks on the market. It’s been compared to Quentin Tarantino’s flicks, John Woo’s Hardboiled and even Charles Bronson’s Death Wish. That’s not to say that these comparisons are off the track, it just seems unfair that a fine little flick like this should be unnoticed for so long.

I picked this up at my local video library on a whim. I like renting the unheard of movies, as opposed to the big screen hundred million dollar blockbusters. You manage to find a gem every so often, and this movie is definitely going to become a cult classic. Boondock Saints is a surprisingly entertaining movie directed by Troy Duffy. When seen on the video shelf (which is how most people have seen it), this looked like just another fill-in, low budget, cliché-ridden, violent, and amateurish effort. It is far from it. I can’t remember being more favorably impressed with a movie that I’d heard absolutely nothing about.

In a style reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino, newcomer Troy Duffy takes us on a violent, darkly comic tour of the Boston underworld. A well-paced opening sequence introduces us to a pair of Irish brothers stuck on the low end of society. As the story unfolds, we note the light sprinkling of tattoos and an unexpected fluency in a wide variety of foreign languages. Where did these guys come from? Why are they special? Details of these questions are revealed slowly and masterfully throughout the course of the movie.

Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus play two good ole Irish Catholic boys in Boston, who one day get sick of the corruption in the city because the Russian mob has moved in and begun taking over the neighbourhood. Either through delusion or because it’s really true, Connor and Murphy decide that they are saints who have been sent to clean up the mob – so they begin to systematically destroy the Boston underworld and begin a bloody crusade to wipe it out. Willem DaFoe plays the FBI agent hot on their trail, who is torn between bringing the mysterious vigilantes to justice, or joining their crusade.

Flashbacks and double-takes on certain events are used to move the plot, thankfully without any of the self-aware empty cuteness that you see posing as creativity in a lot of movies. After the first such sequence, I was hooked and eagerly awaited the next. I thoroughly enjoyed the way the movie handed out tidbits of information allowing us to try to keep up with what the characters on the screen were experiencing.

This is a film about morality, doing what one thinks is right, and having codes of honour. It’s about all those things, and how close they may sometimes get to walking the edge between good and evil. Although the film contains the usual amount of violence and killing for an action movie, this film has the merit that the motive for the murders is very clear, and quite possibly justifiable. The social and moral questions raised throughout the film cannot help but elicit at least some critical thought.

But don’t worry about being forced to think too hard; the film is routinely punctuated by witty dialogue and amusing circumstances. The cat. That’s all I can say to really sum up the sarcastic humor; you have to see the scene with the cat. Without a doubt, it is the funniest thing I have seen in a movie in several years. When you see it, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

The Irish brothers and a stray Italian have delightfully good hearts and are endearing from the start. David Della Rocca puts in a frenzied but ultimately effective performance as their low-end mobster friend. Billy Connolly Rounds out the cast, putting in a too-brief appearance as the mob’s hitman of choice. Willem DaFoe puts forth one of his best performances ever, adding creativity to his rough and tough character by portraying an extremely self-assured gay FBI agent who doesn’t quite admit his sexual orientation to himself. His character is an excellent addition to the underlying religious theme of the movie as it pronounces the question of what purpose religion should serve, other than to provide moral direction.

The film is a must see for anyone who wants to determine what is truly morally correct, as well as anyone who just likes to watch a couple of nice Irish lads following their calling.

I’ve seen a lot of good movies (I love Matrix, Leon, Braveheart, Reservoir Dogs et al...) but they can’t even compare to this one. It’s in a genre that I have never seen before.