Movie Review: The Boondock Saints (1999)

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Synopsis: After an attempted retaliation from a bar fight results in them killing two members of the Russian mafia, Irish Catholic brothers Connor and Murphy MacManus receive a "calling from God" and make it their mission to wipe out all the bad guys in Boston. Their mission is both jeopardized by a willing but bumbling accomplice and a talented FBI investigator that is hot on their trail.

Who's in it? The movie stars Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Willem Daoe, David Della Rocco and Billy Connolly.


Review: After spending a good chunk of the day traveling to and from Oshkosh so our daughter could take the ACT, my wife and I were too tired to do much else yesterday evening and found a movie to watch. It had been quite a few years since we last saw The Boondock Saints, so we ended up choosing that one. It was a good decision.

Since it had been so long since we last saw the film, I didn't remember a whole lot about it other than there was quite a bit of violence and a whole lot of swearing. As it turned out, my memory was solid in that regard, especially the part about the liberal use of the word f*ck. The movie did turn out to be a whole lot more though.

I think the part I liked best about the movie is the comedic way Connor (Flannery) and Murphy (Reedus) pull off their hits. The first kills were mostly accidental while the later ones were arguably the result of some good luck, especially since they seemed to be basing their plans on what they saw in movies and some of their victims just happened to show up at the right time.

Having their story told in flashback form was also a nice touch, with the end result being shown first before the movie walked through the event step-by-step. It made those scenes more fun to watch than if everything was happening at full speed.

The decision to add Rocco (Rocco) to make their duo a trio certainly was a choice that had all the potential in the world to backfire, especially since Rocco wasn't the brightest bulb and seemed to be very impulsive. However, I did like the twist involving the Italian mafia believing Rocco was the mastermind and making their strategic decisions based on that.

The most intriguing character though had to be FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker (Dafoe) because he added such an unpredictable element to the mix. On one hand, the man was a genius who was able to notice subtle clues and put the pieces together relatively quickly. On the other, he seemed to almost idolize the MacManus brothers, to the point it was unclear if he would try to stop them or would eventually choose to help them.

In fact, my only real complaint about the movie is it spilled the beans on Smecker's decision a bit too early, when it would have been better to drag it out until the very end. It wasn't anything that necessarily ruined the movie, just the surprise.

Final Opinion: It is a film that is deceptively clever despite some minor flaws and a whole lot of cuss words. I enjoyed watching it the second time around and would recommend it.

My Grade: A

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