If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like for a toilet to be dropped onto a mobster’s head from approximately five stories up, then 1999’s Boondock Saints, written and directed by Troy Duffy, may be for you.
A rare movie that has been absolutely obliterated by most critics yet loved by an extremely fervent cult following, it is clearly not for everyone. The leads are Catholic Irish American twins, Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy MacManus (Norman Reedus), a pair of impoverished Bostonians who work at a meat packing plant. Friends with a low level Italian mob runner, Rocco – aka ‘Funny Man’ (David Della Rocco), the triumvirate are enjoying a few pints on St. Patrick’s Day when some Russian thugs come into the bar and unceremoniously tell them that it is closed and now under their control. The goons are overrun by the patrons, embarrassed at their own game.
It does not take long for the Russians to track down their combatants from the previous night, looking to respond by putting a few bullets into them. The twins are somehow able to fight them off (killing them in the fray), but panic and flee the scene.
In come the police as well as an eccentric and quirky FBI agent, Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe), who puts all of the detectives to shame, especially Greenly (Bob Marley – most definitely not the reggae singer) – a brash and cocky dick who shouldn’t be so confident. Listening to operatic or classical tunes while he works, Smecker conducts an impressively accurate re-enactment of the crime scene.
With Boston PD thinking they are going to have trouble tracking the killers down, the twins walk right into the station, coming clean that they were just defending themselves. Released and labelled as ‘saints’ by the media and by much of the public, they have an epiphany that they should take on the role of vigilantes, continuing down this path of exterminating the lowlifes of Boston.
Meanwhile, Rocco continues his work with the Italian mob, constantly being hassled by Don Giuseppe “Papa Joe” Yakavetta (Carlo Rota) and his sleazy right hand man, Vincenzo Lapazzi (Ron Jeremy – most definitely the one you are thinking of). A tensely comic scene comes when the mob boss asks Funny Man to tell a joke. . . its transition from nervousness for the runner and irreverence from the higher ups, to all out laughter is a wholly entertaining roller coaster ride.
With the twins turning their targets to the Russian mafia and beyond, they are playing a dangerous game – especially when the much less skilled and nuanced Rocco joins the team. Not only do they have to contend with the wily FBI agent, but must also be wary of a legendary hitman of yesteryear, Il Duce (Billy Connolly), who has been hired by a man who fears that he is next. What will come of the unlikely duo and their dim-witted friend? Will they be able to transform into good-hearted hitmen?
Though it may be slightly disturbing to some (the misappropriation of religion as a conduit to commit murder for good), Boondock Saints is best viewed as any other vigilante justice film – fantastical, and perhaps macabrely wishful thinking for those who often complain about the corrupt and vile underbelly of the world. This somewhat disturbing and complicated path is best voiced by FBI Agent Smecker, who understands the red tape that often allows criminals to walk free and continue their unscrupulous business, yet he also knows that following down the same path as the twins is a slippery slope, despite how effective it can be. He, in many ways, has a moral and ethical crisis, visiting a priest (something he has never done) to try to find some guidance in the way he secretly is starting to feel. Duffy clearly knows that there is controversy, as he ends his film with newsreel footage, people being interviewed on the streets about the so called ‘saints’ – and it is a 50/50 split on whether they are heroes or villains.
Oozing style, Troy Duffy finds a highly original way to stage his set pieces. Never divulging the main action sequences right away, they are revealed as a sort of flashback as Smecker analyses the site. Scrutinizing every minute detail, we see how he discovers each and every brushstroke of what occurred until he has painted a vividly violent recreation of the entire event. This is no better exemplified than when he reenacts a murder scene at a backroom poker game. . . that turned ugly. Fusing past and present, it is almost like the Agent is part of the action, a tour guide and fellow gunman – getting into the battle by throwing himself to his knees, using his fingers as weapons, as well as many other things as the firefight unfolds around him. It is a distinctly stylized way of divulging the action, and the film is better for it.
An entertaining, if violent, action crime thriller, Troy Duffy’s Boondock Saints was not picked up by a major distribution company, fearing it was too heavy to be shown so soon after the Columbine Massacre. Finding a home at Blockbuster, word started to spread and it became a phenomenon, earning nearly 25 million in DVD and Blu-Ray sales and nearly as much from rentals. Filled with some superlative performances, Dafoe is the biggest standout, an over-the-top brilliant Agent who is struggling with his sexuality. Though their actions may not be saintly, give Boondock a chance, and don’t judge the film too harshly; after all, the MacManus brothers are their own judge, jury and executioners.