Top o' the evenin' to ya, me blog-readin' friends! In honor of all things green and tipsy, I've decided to revisit a couple of Irish-themed midnight flicks that I've become a fan of over the past couple of years. No, it's not those damn "Leprechaun" movies! Sit back, shelve your shillelaghs (shelaylees), grab your Guinness(es), and raise your voices high, for the Saints are coming. . .
The Boondock Saints (1999)
"Is it dead?"
Meet the McManus brothers, Connor and Murphy (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus), sons of Ireland. They live in a crappy warehouse in Boston and work at the local slaughterhouse by day. By night, they love nothing more than to kick back a few brewskies, start a couple of bar fights, and have a rowdy good time. One night, a particularly brutal bar fight leads to the death of two Russian gangsters. The brothers turn themselves in to the cops and spend the night in jail - they're to be set free the following day. During the night, they have a revelation. They believe that God has called upon them to eliminate all those evildoers (a.k.a. gangsters) who prey on the innocent and then retreat safely behind the sanctity of the law. Soon they're off on a violent killing spree aided by their good friend Rocco (David Della Rocco), who works for the local Yakavetta crime family. Hot on the trio's trail is FBI Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe), brilliant, eccentric, openly gay, and Il Duce, the Duke (Billy Connolly), a hitman hired by the Yakavettas to take the Saints down once and for all.
If you don't know the sad tale behind this movie, here it is: in 1999 there was a shooting massacre at Columbine High School perpetrated by a couple of truly disturbed dipshits who called themselves the "Trenchcoat Mafia". Hollywood became a scapegoat, mainly because "The Matrix" was in theaters at the time and it featured lots of people in trenchcoats shooting other people, so pop culture must be the cause of it all, right? Later it was proven not to be, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Hollywood reacted by downplaying any movie that seemed "suspicious". "Boondock Saints", written and directed by first-timer Troy Duffy, featured a couple of dudes in black trenchcoats shooting other dudes, so it was a prime suspect and had to be quashed. It's intended 1999 theatrical release was scrapped and the movie changed hands from studio to studio, eventually getting a very small, unadvertised release in 2000. It bombed and, despite the delay of its release, was still lambasted by critics and politicians, its director labeled a "pariah". Troy Duffy soon sank into an alcoholic stupor and disappeared from the filmmaking scene.
Then, the unthinkable happened - the movie gained a cult following. It's legend grew and grew, transforming "The Boondock Saints" into a full fledged underground phenomenon. Ten years later, it still has midnight screenings every weekend in every region of the country. Ah, faith and begorah, sweet vindication!
I must admit, I didn't like this movie all that much when I first saw it. To me, it seemed like just another "Pulp Fiction" wannabe. It's only in the last couple of years that I've grown to love it's grubby charm. Despite some clumsy first-time filmmaking, terrible ethnic accents, uneven script, and too-obvious "homaging" (ripping off) of other films (most notably Quentin Tarantino's stuff, the "Godfather" trilogy, John Woo-style action), it manages to come together in a fun way. The cast has a lot to do with this. Flanery and Reedus hold it all together as the hot-headed vigilante brothers, their friend Rocco is quite an entertaining character (actor Della Rocco is a non-actor friend of the director's), and Connolly is always welcome in movies, if you ask me. But it's Dafoe who steals the show (and chews the scenery). He's waaaaay over the top and the highlight of the film. Be warned, though - he dresses up in drag for scene near the end of the movie - it's one of the most horrifying movie images of all time.
It's a fun movie. Politically incorrect, violent, profane (there's so much swearing it's hilarious), stylish, and appealing to those people who've ever wanted to see the guilty truly get what they deserve. And funny, too.
Soon after the movie became a cult hit, director Troy Duffy got himself cleaned up and threw his green leprechaun hat back into the filmmaking ring. Ten years later, he made the long-awaited sequel. . .
The Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day (2009)
"This isn't rocket surgery."
-Spoilers Ahead-
After hiding out in the Old Country for ten years (and growing ridiculously fake beards), the McManus brothers (Flanery and Reedus, again) are called back to Boston when they are blamed for the murder of a local priest. Soon they're being chased by a vertically challenged hit man named Crew Cut (Daniel DeSanto), the new head of the Yakavetta family (Judd Nelson), and FBI Agent Eunice Bloom (Julie Benz). Joined by an overly emotional "Saint-in-training" named Romeo (Clifton Collins, Jr), the brothers must clear their name, kill some scumbags, and uncover the secret past of Il Duce (Connolly, again) who, in case you haven't seen the first film, is the father of Connor and Murphy.
I like this movie almost as much as the first one. It takes a little longer to kick into gear, but once it does, it satisfies. It's got much of the same spirit: it's flawed in almost the exact same ways as the original, and has the same strengths. Julie Benz (from TV's "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", "Dexter", "Rambo"), as Willem Dafoe's "replacement", has the hardest job of all the castmembers, but she does just fine - she overacts almost as entertainingly as Willem did. And she's so much more fun to look at. Aye, she's a fine lass. . .
A lot of fans were disappointed with this one, and I don't quite understand why. I think it's because the humor is a little bit more pronounced this time out. I've noticed there are a few hardcore "Boondock" fans who take the first movie far too seriously. They see all sorts of religious implications where there are none, they think director Duffy was making some sort of serious crime drama. . . uh huh, sure. In the "making-of" materials on the first movie's dvd, Mr. Duffy clearly states that he was making a "fun" movie, something to sit back, relax, and have a good time with. Don't look for deeper meanings where there are none. Unless you're really bored. Which some people clearly are. To me, the first movie was just as humorous as the sequel. It's just that the humorous character elements here are amped up a notch or two. This is all balanced out by some serious dramatic scenes that occur later on in the movie which, to me, have a balancing effect on the movie's overall tone.
The last few scenes in "Boondock II" are awesome, leaving me quite eager to see a third one. Will a "Boondock Saints III" ever occur? Well, you know that old saying about the luck of the Irish. . .
Happy St. Patty's Day, everyone!
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