The Boondock Saints

The Boondock Saints is one of the most pleasant surprises I've had in my years of watching indies, and it proves conclusively that you don't need a massive budget to do a terrific action film!

Two blue-collar Boston Irish brothers (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus, who are both terrific!) rid their favorite pub of an influx of Russian gangsters, and soon decide they are on a Mission from God to execute all the 'heavy hitter' criminals from the city. While this makes them local heroes, it also sets sympathetic detective Willem Dafoe on their trail.

The story is reminiscent of the 'Death Wish' series, without the glossy superficiality of the Bronson films. At times funny, at times disturbing, it never loses momentum, with a twist ending is both satisfying and thoroughly insane!

While the violence is graphic, the story is character-driven, and never allows the executions to overwhelm the plot. You actually like the brothers, and may be hard-pressed NOT to root for them, even if you do feel a bit guilty about it!

The Boondock Saints is a fabulous film, one that deserves your attention!

It took watching a YouTube video of Willem Dafoe talking about it with such affection for me to finally watch it.

Great stuff. Perfect casting. Fun, funny, different. A bit of a "Snatch" (one of my favorites) like tone, but still unique. Had an absolute blast watching it.

I've always enjoyed non-linear storytelling. A number of people seem to have picked up on this aspect of the movie and thus dubbed it similar to Pulp Fiction (though no one mentions Reservoir Dogs) when this movie takes non-linear storytelling to a level beyond where Quentin Tarrantino was ever able to go.

Now, certainly Memento came along afterwards and transformed the entire art of non-linear storytelling. However, Memento uses it to keep the movie watcher guessing until the very end, whereas Boondock Saints puts the pieces on the table, letting you try to put them together, but then will continue handing you pieces until the picture becomes clearer.

Clearly the movie is designed to be over-the-top, both from Williem Dafoe's character to the action sequences themselves. Williem Dafoe makes this movie for me. The plot, which centers on religiously-inspired vigilante justice, has an air of being somewhat cliched, although I would be hard pressed to name another movie which handles it in this matter.

I still fail to see how others consider this movie vacuous and without meaning, when its message about the pitfalls of our current legal system and the need for something that transcends it is quite clear. I thought the ending, in which various people are interviewed about their opinion of the "Saints" and how for some vigilante justice was an incredibly sensitive issue, made this point very clear.

My son called me from Korea (Army Medic) to tell me that I had to see this movie. He brought it home with him on leave and we watched it together and he was absolutely right. It was "off the chain" as he says. It was so different from the standard fare that only substitutes different faces into the same tired story lines. We love it and I am now buying my own copy. I recommend it to any one that I know is a discriminating movie lover. I can't wait for the sequel. By the way , I'm a 43 year old mom of three so it's not just for 20 something males. Willem Dafoe was over the top but absolutely perfect for this movie. My husband hates movies and any TV that doesn't have a ball and a score, but he actually loved this movie too. It kept him on the edge of his seat and he actually laughed out loud several times.

A fourth year film student with a chip on his/her shoulder will probably tell you that this film is simple, uninspired, derivative, gratuitous..... ignore him/her just like you always do and see this genuinely funny movie. It has an inspired performance by Willem Dafoe and enough new ideas to keep you glued. The social commentary should probably be looked at as more of a plot device than intelligent thought, but I found myself watching this movie repeatedly and enjoying it more the second and third time around. This is definitely a naughty pleasure for the movie enthusiast.