Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The Boondock Saints

After tangling with a couple of guys from the Russian syndicate, two Boston Irish brothers (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus) decide they're going to cleanse the world, or at least Boston, of evil-doers the same way Charles Bronson did. They get off to a great start, and even the genius FBI agent on the case (Wilem Dafoe) can't quite figure out what's going on (though he can really work a crime scene). The bodies pile up before things start to go wrong for the brothers (hooking up with a guy called "Funny Man" is a mistake, if you ask me). Things improve for them at the end, and there's a over-the-top courtroom scene that pretty much defines the movie.

In fact, the phrase over the top pretty much defines this movie. Willem Dafoe is about as flamboyantly gay as you can get, and his "direction" of one of the big shoot-outs is either going to make you sit there laughing or with your jaw dragging the floor. And that's one of the less flamboyant scenes.

In fact (again), I laughed quite a bit, and my jaw hit the floor just about as often during scenes I just couldn't believe I was seeing. From what I've heard, this movie barely made it into theaters but has become something of a cult favorite on DVD. I'll say this for it: they didn't buy it off the rack. It's different from anything you're likely to see this week. More than enough violence, gore, and torture for anyone. Plus (I'm not making this up) Ron Jeremy. Now you know what you're in for. Check it out if it sounds appealing. But not if you like cats. Trust me.

6 comments:

Vince said...

The perfect follow-up to this is Overnight, a documentary about the making of the movie and in particular the meltdown of its director. It's even more entertaining than Boondock Saints.

Unknown said...

Apparently there's a great story behind the movie, all right.

Anonymous said...

I saw this a few years ago after reading rave reviews from the cult crowd. I was really disappointed in it and thought it blew. I was trying to take it seriously though. Whenever I see it again I'll have to see the absurdity as humour.

There is supposed to be a sequel in the works, according to IMDB.

Unknown said...

I don't know where they could go with a sequel.

Victor Gischler said...

I thought the ending wasn't 100% great ... but over-all, I can say I was reasonably entertained.

VG

Unknown said...

If you can't be entertained by Willem Dafoe in a garter belt, you're in bad shape.