Boondock Saints throws that question to the screen, and their answer seems to be – it can be right and just when treated with equal parts exceptional violence, judicious humor, and deep spiritual resolve. And especially in the deepest, darkest Irish boroughs of Boston.
The film is somewhat of a cult phenom, having provoked a bidding war over writer/director Troy Duffy’s script long before the finished production went into limited release, earning all of $35,000 on 5 screens. However, the story found the anticipated audience in VHS and DVD sales, totaling more than $50 million, becoming an underground success in the process and giving birth to two sequels.
The story follows the brothers MacManus, two Irish lads (Connor, played by Sean Patrick Flanery, and Murphy, played by Norman Reedus) who seem to fill their life with work at butchery, praying at church and playing in a decidedly Irish pub. The film opens as the brothers, to nobody’s apparent surprise, walks past the priest as he gives his sermon, railing on about the evil inherent in the indifference of good men. They say communion alone, as the priest continues. Dressed in dark colors and with a decided menace to their gait, nobody reacts as they silently exit the cathedral, as if they are above mere mortals.
Their hangout, a local pub run by seemingly tourettes afflicted Doc (Gerard Parks), is being taken over by Russian thugs, who pick a bad time to visit. They raise the ire of the brothers and are disgraced before being forced out of the bar. The next morning, the mobsters surprise the brothers at their home in bed, and the two dispatch the Russians in self-defense.
The death of the Russian mobster brings FBI Agent Paul Smecker, played by Willam Dafoe as a flamboyant and well coiffed investigator with a character texture that feels faintly lifted from the likes of other well known and afflicted characters. He dances around the crime scene, listening to opera. In a nearly Sherlock delivery, Smecker leads the detectives through what happened, completely taking the piss out of a local homicide detective in what becomes a running joke. They even discover where the MacManus’ apparently squat.
The boys turn themselves in, dressed only in bathrobes, as local heroes. Even Agent Smecker likes their story and clears them of wrongdoing. They stay the night at the station to avoid the press, and that night receive their “calling”, where they are instructed to remove evil.
A number of scenarios develop as the fraternal twins set out to free the pub from the greedy arm of the incoming Russian mafia. In turn, they also become hunted, leading to a brilliant performance by Billy Connelly, as an Irish killer, Il Duce, held by the Russians to do their bidding. As with so many comedians, his characterization and on-screen presence is unexpectedly excellent, whether emptying six handguns in short order, or having a heart-to heart with the brothers MacManus.
Through all of these capers, the brothers come through mostly unscathed in spite of a number of things going wrong. And these seeming misteps, bad timings, and other uncanny devices that should cause their failure, instead cause complete success. So, in time, it does feel as if the brothers are indeed ordained by some greater spirit to carry out this judgment from above. At times, they do take stock of what they are doing, trying to find realistic boundaries for what constitutes an executable bad guy. But most time, the criminals come to them.
It is, overall, a satisfying film if you are looking for storylines of righteous vengeance. The violence is graphic and ever present through the film, whether needed or not, so it is not considered a family film. And the values may be considered questionable. But the snappy writing, well delivered dialogue and some good plot twists lead a film to what almost feels like an end, but never really finishing. The very ambiguity of a solid ending is reinforced by the last moments turning documentary style, asking strangers whether what the vigilantes did was right or wrong.
The two biggest failures are the gradual petering out of the plot until the movie uses the sad ending device, and the complete lack of character development in the MacManus brothers. They are interchangeable, with one performance blending into the other’s. They may be fraternal twins, but they appear more as a single personality with a split body.
Boondock Saints may ask the question about morality in killing, and may spend the ending trying to work it out with normal folk, but the entire middle is about justifying such killings in the eyes of the Lord, and in the eyes of society as the righteous vigilantes. If that’s the answer the film want to forward, why bother asking the question in the first place?
Ratings: 6 of 10 potatoes
Pain level: 3-4
Medication: 600 mg gabapentin, 10 mg oxymorphone
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