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 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.

The film is, simply put, cool. Its one of the only movies that actually make going to church look cool. Don't be fooled by the description, however; this is not an action movie. Do not expect blazing gun battles with crazy angles and MTV like editing. 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.

The two actors who play the Irish vigilantes are great in their roles, playing the boys not as superheroes, but as regular joes with a huge chip on their shoulder. A nice twist in the film is DaFoe's portrayel of the FBI agent, who also happens to be gay. He plays him as a great character without being tempted to dip into stereotypes. Great job by the versatile actor.

This is definately a movie not to be missed. If you are fortunate to see this in your video store, take it out and enjoy.


It's a winner   January 17, 2004
Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA)
107 out of 141 found this review helpful

It only takes a few minutes to draw a comparison between Troy Duffy's "The Boondock Saints" and almost any Quentin Tarentino film. As I watched this breathtaking movie, I snickered to myself over realizing this little fact. I figured few others would make the connection. Boy, was I wrong! It seems that anyone who has seen "Boondock Saints" immediately thinks of "Pulp Fiction" or "Reservoir Dogs." Moreover, a lot of people do not like the idea of Duffy ripping off such a noble American icon. Perhaps they have forgotten that Tarentino has based his entire career on borrowing or outright ripping off ideas from 1960s and 1970s cinema. I could care less whether Duffy imitated "Pulp Fiction" or whether he arrived at this idea on his own. Hollywood routinely begs, borrows, and steals in an effort to make a buck. The recent trend of remaking older films is only one aspect of this philosophy, so complaining about some filmmaker copying a specific style is a moot point. "The Boondock Saints" is an enormously entertaining way to spend a couple of hours and, despite a few flaws, may attain a cult status rivaling anything made by Quentin Tarentino. This is how it should be.

Connor and Murphy MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus respectively) are two Irish brothers who spend their days drinking at the local pub and working in a local meatpacking plant. They don't do much with their free time outside of lounging around their filthy loft and hanging around with unbalanced people like their friend David Rocco, a minor criminal who longs to join the local branch of the mafia. Trouble rears its ugly head when some Russian gangsters move into the neighborhood and threaten to close down the neighborhood bar. After a fistfight leads to a couple of killings in an alley, the boys realize they may be in a spot of trouble with local law enforcement. Actually, they are in more trouble than they realize at first when an FBI agent by the name of Paul Smecker arrives on the scene. The inept local cops stand around throwing out all sorts of weird, implausible theories about these corpses in the alleyway, but Smecker moves in and figures it all out in an enormously hilarious and ingenious way. By slapping on some headphones pumping out classical music and prancing around the scene checking things out, Smecker tells the cops what happened, when it happened, and who probably did it. Sure enough, the MacManus boys sheepishly arrive at the local cop shop, bloodied and bandaged from their tussle with the Russkies, and confess to the crime.

Fortunately for Connor and Murphy, Agent Smecker takes a real shine to these gregarious youngsters and releases them from jail. After all, the whole incident was merely a case of self-defense gone horribly bloody. But something strange happens to the MacManus brothers after this incident; they suddenly think they receive a calling from God to rid the streets of criminals. Checking in at the local armory of the Irish Republican Army (this is Boston, after all) and arming themselves to the teeth, Connor and Murphy use information gleaned from their encounter with the low-level mafia goons to stage a mission against the bosses of the Russian Mob. Other jobs soon follow, all apparently sanctioned and sanctified by the Almighty. The boys are so successful they soon draw in the assistance of David Rocco, who, with his vast knowledge of Boston's underworld, provides a list of criminals who deserve to die. As the body count rises, Smecker comes closer to learning the identities of these homegrown vigilantes. The fact that the FBI agent undergoes a crisis of conscience over the crimes--he quickly realizes these murders are the work of citizens fed up with crime--leads him to secretly help the men responsible for the killings. Throw in a bunch of Mafia thugs, adult film star Ron Jeremy as a doomed hoodlum, a vicious, mystical killer named "Il Duce" (played by Billy Connolly, still atoning for "Head of the Class"), stylish gunplay, and an exploding cat and you have all the makings of this marvelous movie.

"The Boondock Saints" is a film about vigilantism and whether that activity is ever justifiable, although that theme seems to disappear for most of the movie. The conclusion, too, ends up being just a little too implausible, but getting there is a boatload of fun. The best things about Duffy's film are the whipsaw quick dialogue, the hilarious running gags, and Willem Dafoe as Agent Paul Smecker. Dafoe especially deserves accolades for his portrayal of a conflicted FBI agent whose sympathies eventually turn to the MacManus brothers. His way of solving crimes, especially the shootout between Il Duce and the two vigilantes, is not only brilliantly executed but a wonder to watch. Moreover, Smecker's interactions with the local Irish cops provide endless opportunities for great dialogue and hilarious jokes.

Regrettably, a bit of overacting at certain points of the film quickly annoys, as does the failure to provide anything more than lip service to vigilantism and how it pertains to our ultra violent world, but "The Boondock Saints" is so much fun despite these flaws that you will hardly notice them. The DVD includes many extras, such as important deleted scenes, a commentary by Troy Duffy, and a widescreen presentation. There's even talk of an impending sequel, although the absence of the Willem Dafoe character, if the reports are true, could cause significant problems. There is not any other way to say it: if you have not seen "The Boondock Saints," run, do not walk, to the local video store and buy or rent a copy today.


A Sleeper Fan's Opinion   July 10, 2002
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

If you are a big fan of sleeper films, then this should be #1 on your movies to rent list. After you watch it, it will be #1 on your movies to buy list. This movie will really toy with you from the very beginning. As an action movie, you see the results of the action sequence before you see the actual scene. By doing this, the director keeps you on the edge of your seat, dying to know what happened and how. After the first sequence like this, you will be glued to your TV. Personally, I enjoyed this style of storytelling immensly because it was very fresh. This movie has an original plot, great character development, fantastic dialogue and several extremely humorous scenes. Oh, and great action too. For the DVD fan, there are great special features. The deleted scenes are some of the best I have ever seen, and I wish that they had been left in the theatrical release. I can only hope for a directors cut somewhere down the line. Willem Dafoe and Sean Patrick Flannery put forth a fantastic performance
in this quirky, perfectly paced and very slickly directed sleeper. In the universe of sleeper movies, Boondock Saints is one of the best ever.


The message.   May 3, 2006
A.M. Coverston (San Jose, San Jose Costa Rica)
50 out of 65 found this review helpful

I hold this movie as one of my all-time favorites.

The movie itself is far from perfect, but it doesn't take itself too seriously, which certainly makes it go easier on those who would otherwise bash it for its b-movie qualities.

On another note, a reviewer here seems to have focused on the "retribution" meted by the main characters as being the gist of the story. I beg to differ, however, as it would seem to me that the subtext points a finger at the indifference which plagues our society and how the very system is rotting from foundation to seams. Sure, for action movie purposes, the film makers went with the extreme of taking justice into one's own hands, but there's more to the movie than just "an eye for an eye". One might even argue that the "saints" come out to be the replacement for our current, corrupt law enforcement officials. A new institution replacing another that has become obsolete.

In any case, the movie is very good and is at least worth a couple of views so as to appreciate its nuances.


If you don't have it, get this   June 1, 2006
Pope Clement VII (Vatican City)
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

Don't let the 3 stars throw you off, I'm referring to this particular DVD. Finally we get an anamorphic widescreen version of it, which is great. Except, the retards who produced it still are using a single layer DVD. That means they're trying to produce the entire movie in just 4.7GB of space, including the menus and trailers. (As many know, most commercial releases of movies use dual layer discs, with up to ~9GB capacity, often they use 7-8GB, this actually uses 4.5GB of the 4.7 available.) So, if you didn't buy the other release, which has the movie presented as widescreen but not anamorphic (ie, designed to play on a 4:3 TV and has a lot of padding), this is the better version, especially since it contains that version on the other side of the movie disc. The case is metal, which is neat, but it is devoid of any words, except "The Boondock Saints" and "Unrated Special Edition". Unfortunately the movie disc is a double sided disc, so we don't get any disc art except on the special features disc...better than the old version, but if you have the old one, this isn't worth your money.