Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director:
Troy Duffy
Cast:
Willem Dafoe……….Paul Smecker
Sean Patrick Flanery……….Connor MacManus
Norman Reedus……….Murphy MacManus
David Della Rocco……….David Della ‘Roc/Funny Man’ Rocco
Billy Connolly……….Il Duce
The Movie
The fascinating thing about The Boondock Saints isn’t its action sequences, shockingly foul-mouthed dialogue or ham-fisted nods to action clichés and sequences from years past. The ethical dilemma posed by the brothers MacManus is almost as engaging as the film itself.
Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) are fraternal twins who do everything together. They work at a meat packing plant together, they drink at the same dive bar in South Boston together and they get in plenty of drunken brawls together. One of those drunken brawls lands them in all out brawl with some Russian mobsters, and after an attempt on their lives they wind up with some blood on their hands. Cleared of the killings in the name of self defense, they have a revelation apparently inspired from God: they are to bring vengeance upon the criminal underworld in His name.
While being tracked down by FBI Agent Smecker (Willem Dafoe), the brothers wreck havoc on all sorts of bad guys and mafia figures in a vigilante war on crime. As Smecker weaves through the mounting pile of bodies, he’s caught between trying to do his job by bringing them down and his sympathies towards their cause. And The Boondock Saints treads the line between openly endorsing what the MacManus brothers and condemning them as vigilantes. They do bad things to bad people, but there’s enough ambiguity in the situation to make it relatively even-handed.
Troy Duffy, in his only feature film to date, developed a well-rounded film. While his personal behaviors after the film blacklisted him from Hollywood (as well as killed a rumored sequel), The Boondock Saints has a Tarantino-inspired visual style and story-telling manner. His movie moves forward from point to point, but tells the details in flashback manner. It’s interesting to see the police investigate the aftermath of the crime scenes and try to figure out what happened, speculating on what happened, and then to see how it actually played out. It’s a unique style that was popular when the film was released, of course, but it still holds up because it is telling a good story.
The problem with the film is that its finale is a bit of a letdown. For a film about action and punishing the wicked a long meandering finish with long soliloquies about justice and treating each other well is out of place with the film’s overall style and pacing.
Score : 8 / 10
The Video
Presented in full screen and widescreen formats, with 1.33:1 and 2.35:1 aspect ratios respectively, the film has been cleaned up significantly since its first release. The colors are sharper and better separated than before. It’s a noticeable difference in just how much better it is.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound, the film’s sound has been given quite an upgrade. From the previous release to now the audio has gone from being good to excellent. The sound is clearer and better separated, with the dialogue sounding crisp and clears as well as the action sequences taking full advantage of Dolby Digital format.
The Extras
Deleted Scenes in raw form are included on this DVD release and they’re cut for good reasons. Most of them would derail the narrative or are unnecessary to the story. These were included in the original DVD release
Outtakes from the shooting are included which were also on the prior DVD release of The Boondock Saints.
Original Theatrical Trailer is included, as well as a trailer for Donnie Darko.
Printable Script for The Boondock Saints is included for those who have a DVD Rom drive. It’s a fascinating read, to say the least,
Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Troy Duffy
Audio Commentary by Actor Billy Connolly
Score : 5 / 10
