The Boondock Saints (1999)

I guess it'll take a while for the effect to where off. I saw the unrated edition of "The Boondock Saints" two days ago and I'm still reeling in from the experience, which is surreal, to tell you the truth. Quite frankly, a movie that is this sharply written, acted, and directed is a true rarity these days. Writer-director Troy Duffy dives into the murkiest depths of the "law," and its apparent futility in modern times, and how it takes two Irish fraternal twin brothers, Conner and Murphy (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus - both of whom are a little too convincing in their roles), to stir up enough debate about vigilantism to become media heroes. The release of "The Boondock Saints" was sidelined in 1999 because of the Columbine massacre and the plot about Conner and Murphy being on a mission from God draws some eerie parallels to the motives of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. As the film opens in Boston after St. Patrick's Day, Conner and Murphy get into a bar-room brawl with a couple of Russian toughs and said toughs are discovered the next morning in an alley in piles of their own blood and guts. FBI agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) shows up on the scene to show the local cops a thing or two about criminology and theorizes it was a revenge killing. Soon enough, both injured brothers waltz into the police station and claim self-defense. They're let off after a night in jail (plus experience a cathartic jail-cell baptism) and no charges filed. But soon, more bodies turn up, and Smecker learns that Conner and Murphy (and a third, David Della Rocco) may be the ones behind the mayhem on the streets. Duffy's film is a bloody one (most of the gruesome violence is extended in the unrated special edition), with a cackling screenplay that includes 246 uses of the f-word and assorted Irish-Euro-slang, and has earned a fearsome reputation in recent years and has been embraced as a cult phenomenon. (It's easy to see why, if one is a fan of relentless violence and bloodshed. P.S.: The action is so balletic in its style and excess that it's almost reminiscent of a John Woo picture.) I can't believe I stood away from this movie for so long, darn it! The opening moments don't prepare you for what comes up next and even though the action (which there is quite a bit of and, as stated earlier, is extended in the unrated version) is quite bloody, there's a morbid sense of humor running throughout the carnage and I fell out laughing on more than one occasion during this picture. And still, there is a sense of beauty and tragedy underlying much of the action in "The Boondock Saints," and its ending will certainly leave a bitter taste in the mouths of some. Lastly, I would recommend reading up on as much about the controversy surrounding "The Boondock Saints" as one possibly can; it'll make the experience much more hypnotic.

10/10