I'd heard of The Boondock Saints but never knew what it was or how it came about until recently. Seems an L.A. bartender named Troy Duffy, through charm, energy and charisma, managed to get Harvey Weinstein to buy his script and allow him to direct it as well. That all fell through, but somehow the film still got made without Harvey. Connor and Murphy McManus (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus), street-wise Irish guys from Boston, stumble into a life of vigilantism after a bar fight. Rather than running from the law, they turn themselves in and are released. The Russian mafia guys they managed to off were sort of asking for it. This gets them straight with the law, but the mafia thugs want to even things out. The McManus boys are thinking they could clean up the streets a bit if they just go forth with what they stumbled into. Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) is called in on the first case. He's FBI and has an uncanny knack with crime scenes - with just a few bits of evidence, he can put a scene together. With more and more mafia guys getting offed, he's left wondering what's killing them. The now-fearful mafia springs senseless killing machine Il Duce (Billy Connolly) to save their bacon. The bad deal is that he's so focused on his goal that he won't stop until he's killed his mark. All these elements combine for a virtuoso vigilante film. The McManus boys are charismatic and funny, really easy to root for. The way they stumble into situations and come out on top is certainly unlikely but amusing nonetheless. They're smart and live by a code, a structure important to their garnering sympathy. The people in the neighborhood cover for them as needed. None of their people will talk; they stick together and realize they're seeing improvements in their crime-ridden streets thanks to these boys. Not that I'm condoning it. The Boondock Saints didn't do big business in the theaters, but it still managed to make a tidy profit and become a home video darling. Standby for The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day to be released sometime in 2009. |
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