Boondock Saints

Directed by: Troy Duffy
1999

Cast:
Sean Patrick Flannery - Conner
Narman Reedus - Murphy
Willem Dafoe – Paul Smecker

Religious zealotry takes on a whole new dimension in this film when two young, Catholic, Irish men take on getting rid of criminals in the name of God. We regularly hear about this today except it is fanatical Muslims killing innocent people. But when it comes right down to it, it is all still killing isn’t it? I can not help bringing this up seeing this movie brings up these sort of thoughts. What you think about what the main characters to says a lot about what you think about justice.
The film starts out fairly innocently enough. The men, Conner and Murphy own little more than the clothes on their back and have deep allegiances to their faith, not to mention the local Irish Bar. So like two good Irishmen they defend the bar from being shut down by the Russian Mafia (those atheists!). A good ‘ole fight ensues and the losing Russians go out in bandages. But their pride is hurt more than their bodies and they come back to visit the two lads to exact their revenge.
Fortunately they get out of this scrap as well. When they are caught, or rather when they walk into the police station of their own accord, they are let go on it being self defense. Nobody misses those dead Russians it turns out.
The two men have what can be called a religious experience and receive what they perceive to be direct orders from God telling them to vanquish all scum from the earth. They start on the local Russian mafia and through a series of happy accidents get rid of most of them. They take on a crude and clumsy sidekick (David Della Rocco) who is more trouble than he’s worth. Together the three of them knock off druggies, rapists, mafiosos and some other pretty bad people, like nobody’s business.
Behind all this, sniffing their trail is an openly gay cop played by William Defoe (what hasn’t he played?) This is perhaps the funniest role I’ve seen him in. While going through investigating the murders he goes from serene to disheveled when the ‘Saints’ as they’re now called are just one step ahead of him.
The choreography is by no means on the level of Scorcese but it isn’t bad. The directory obviously likes using A LOT of camera pans though. Often cuts go from one to the next and the camera never stops moving. I don’t find this distracting but rather it is appropriate to the film. Perhaps what I liked most about it however was that it made you think. In this day and age where Hollywood superheroes with magical powers vanquish evil left and right it was a refreshing change of pace to see some vigilantes with no extra-ordinary gifts (?) behind them take out the trash so to speak. Think what you will, I for one think that killing human life, whether it be in the name of God or not is wrong. For being such adherents to the church these men seem to have forgotten the first commandment: Thou shall not kill. See the movie yourself and you can be the judge.

3 stars