Like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction or Natural Born Killers this stunning looking hyper-violent often funny film is loaded down with irony but unlike those films I didn't become invested in the characters in a way that makes the difference between a movie that is merely entertaining and one that provokes deep thought about big issues. Inviting us to fantasize more than it challenges us to think The Boondock Saints skirts greatness offering, instead, some truly breathtaking moments of gunplay, a stunningly funny performance by Willem Dafoe as a gay FBI agent, and Billy Connelly which is itself a recommendation for any film regardless of it's imperfections. In this BS is a better movie than say Hostel- another exploitive film that has delusions of profundity.
When fate, intervenes in the lives of two decidedly rough around the edges Irish meat packers they begin to wonder if God has chosen them to carry out his wrath upon criminals that are taking over the city they live in. A series of unlikely assassinations soon has them pursued by a brilliant gay FBI Agent played with hilarious relish by Willem Dafoe and eventually by an equally brilliant mob assassin played by Connelly.
Boondock Saints is so full of irony it reminds me of a statement fellow critic Roger Ebert recently made to snakesonablog when asked to compare Snakes on A Plane to Casablanca.
"I'm tired of the age of irony.... [I]rony is also just an excuse to avoid doing the heavy lifting of important art, you know? If you don't go to see great movies, or read great books, or go to great theater, or look at great television, then you don't have to think about it and you can just master trivia. And then when you're 35 you can sit around drinking beer with your high school buddies and, you know, chat your life away."
Movies like Boondock Saints are fun but they make me feel like that character Chris Farley used to play on SNL. A celebrity would come on Farley's talk show and Farley would launch into "Remember when, when you.... And then.... And then.... I loved that, man. That was so cool!" I have plenty of room for movies that prompt this response in my life. But when a movie offers up a profound question we have to ask "Does this film ask a question because the answer might be sensational, or because it's looking to get closer to the truth?"
Of course the ultimate irony here is we all know by now that Troy Duffy basically shot himself in the foot by his bad ultra diva behavior in Hollywood relegating this (and in all probability any projects in the near future) to the bargain bins. That why Boondock Saints can be had so cheap my friends. A great documentary that shows Duffy driving that self destructive process is called Overnight and one wishes it were included as part of this SE.
Basically there is a good chance Boondock Saints spurs conversation but it doesn't add much to it. Therefore I would say the biggest sin the movie commits is that it only effectively preaches to two kinds of people. Those already convinced that use of vigilante force is good or bad, moral or immoral. And those who love to sound smart when they drink with their geek buddies. It promotes an attitude not an informed opinion.
Having said that I sure own this SE. It is full of fabulous extras. You get everything from the first edition including Commentary by writer/director Troy Duffy, Outtakes, Trailer, Cast and crew filmographies, deleted scenes, and you also get a brand new Commentary by actor Billy Connolly and Printable script option. The packaging is also pretty nifty. The two-disc set is offered in a metal case with a nifty Celtic cross design.
Ah, sorry... I can barely force myself to read the review, Canfield, which isn't necessarily a slight against you and/or your journalistic abilities, but I find it difficult to credit Boondock Saints with any merit at all. Vile, overblown, empty, insulting, putrid crap made by an idiot with delusions of grandeur IMO, and that's being kind - I must admit to being fascinated up to a point by the idea of the Billy Connolly commentary because I'd love to know what the fuck possessed him to get involved with this utter, utter rubbish. This probably reads like a troll, but it's really not meant to be; it's one of the few DVDs I've ever sold on out of choice (and I actually felt guilty for getting 50p for it) and I truly consider it one of the worst films I've ever seen. It's like a stoned 17-year-old ethics student vomited over a Dennis Lehane novel - one of the few films I've ever seen where I found it mentally (almost physically!) painful to watch nearer the end.
I'm kind of surprised anyone here bothered to review it - and much as I dislike bringing stuff up, I'm mildly surprised it'd be you... I might have thought a Christian might find the film even more offensive than me... but that's just grasping at straws, I guess, I didn't think about it too hard (sorry!
What silly fellows. The validity of this movies merits should not be a series for debate, nor its connections to Tarintino who outright borrows from a slew of films himself. Boondock Saints is just a fun movie to spend an couple hours with. I most enjoy Dafoe in drag popping off a henchman in slow motion as his cheeks fluster with air. Fun fun fun. Canfield brought up the subject of vigilante forces but I found the premise so fictiscious I didn't even take it as a discussion of any kind, but rather a necesary plot point. In fact when the credits role with video "footage" of locals justifying or condemning the brothers i found it very out of step with the whole of the film. Still fun was had and I'm not complaining. I would have more fun watching this in theater then Da Vinci Code any day.
Good review, bad movie. The first half of the movie was ok, but I had the weird feeling that important story elements were being hidden from the viewer on purpose. The second half of the movie was a disaster, random biblical references, sloppy writing and lots of overacting. The ending was just sad, it felt like a bad rip-off of Batman.
One of the two defenders here of this trash-cum-movie can barely spell. 'Says it all, doesn't it?
Wow... I just realized my brain had completely blocked out all memories associated with the movie/trauma until I came across your review. I could have gone to my grave never hearing or seeing the two words Boondock and Saint next to one another. May be I could take a hammer to my head and induce another round of amnesia. It wouldn't be too much of a loss since I'd already lost half my brain cells when I watched it.
What does it say DarmanPoe? Do tell.
This is one of my least favorite movies of all time. It's just so annoying. Even if it isn't art, it's also not watchable—it's the kind of crap a really dumb 15-year-old would think up (Irish brothers...who kill...IN THE NAME OF GOD!!!!!!) and think was the most edgy, awesome, super-cool thing ever.
I think that Boondock Saints had the right idea , but as is the case with many an unsuccessful filmaker who has tried to capture that Taratino-esque style, it throws many haymakers but fails to land that one punishing blow that knocks you square on your ass.
You could say it is a case of style over substance but the former doesn't make up for the latter. I wanted to care about these characters but I couldn't. Its not that the acting was bad, its that there was not enough character development. There was no bond created between the characters and the viewer. Aside from some brief moments of gunplay, and the scene stealing brilliance that is Willem Dafoe, BS doesn't offer much more.
Boondock felt as if it was simply going through the motions.
I think Henry Rollins said something very profound that fits here.
He was comparing The Clash and U2.
He said something along the lines of The Clash is the band U2 wishes they were.
I think the same can be said here albeit a looser interpretation, but I think you understand the connection.
I think this film tries to "fit in", tries to capture the importance, the relevance, the attitude, but reveals itself to be nothing more than a cheap knock-off.
Unlike many stand-out, hornworthy m/ films in this genre, Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs come to mind, that have seemlessly blended depth of character, engrossing story telling with palpable fits of punishing action, Boondock Saints, simply put, does not!
At the end of the day Boondock Saints aspires to be held in the same high regard as some of the aforementioned films, but falls well short of being classified in the same company.
Special Edition meh!
Wow, what a bunch of horse shit....i appreciate any good critisisms from anyone, but straight out bashing is uncalled for....this film in my opinion is one of the finest works of the previous decade...and if i spelled anything wrong, lick my ball sack
Unfortunately for most of you, you missed the complete point of this movie. The reason it was a huge success is that it presents a viewpoint that almost everyone thinks about. Obviously none of those who poo-pooed this movie have ever been on the streets. Big cities in the US are a disaster and many teens loved this movie because it is cleaning up the streets in a video game style way. It related to the primitive nature in males everywhere.
Ender, that's a bunch of smug and arrogant horseshit that needs to go back into the orifice from which it spilled. I've been beaten with a steel pipe for no reason at all, robbed at gunpoint, beaten senseless by armed teenage thugs, had my house robbed, seen my brother after he was beaten and robbed in the Bronx, been knowingly framed by cops for something that I didn't do and that they damn well know I didn't do, known friends who lost people they cared about to violent crime, though fortunately I was luckier than that.
This movie still sucks ass.
Don't fucking lecture me about "the streets".
To all the fans of the movie keep on rockin to all the people who don't like the movie kiss my ass, if you have nothing better to do than bitch about a movie that you don't like tell us about one you do probably something like princess diaries huh pussies if i misspeledd enythin then lick my ballsck also bitches
whoa
that's a lot of reactions to this review
I agree completly with the review, this movie is neither great or horrible, it aims very high, and that's something good, but falls short, it reeks of tarantino cliches, but it's never boring
and that's the most important thing in my opinion, you may hate it, but you won't be bored, and that's more than most of american releases this days
in that way it can be compared to tideland, or otherwise we wouldn't be talking about it, I don't think anyone held an argument like this over poseidon or the sentinel for example
After I saw this film my brain tried to reconcile the seemingly HUGE following it has acquired. My first thought was that it had to be some sort of guerilla marketing thing. Yet people really do seem to like it. Why? I can't figure it out.
To me, this is the combination of extremely amature filmmaking combined with a 12-year-old's comic book sense of justice. It is so amazingly immature and short-sighted that it never once manages to cross the line into 'cool' and stays firmly in the land of 'pathetic'. Even the action sequences, which so many praise, are predictable and slow. For brief moments, Willem Defoe is plausible but for the other 99 percent of this film, I had to wonder if he'd started freebasing crack in real life. When he started piecing together the crime scene while dancing to classical music at the start of the film, the alarms went off that something was horribly wrong.
The irony is I think the same vigilante mindset displayed in the film should be applied to those involved in its creation.
Great movie, very entertaining. Movies are not real people, they are for our enjoyment. I enjoy this movie several times throughout the year. Only wish they had some scenes with the brothers downing pints. Too many people look the other way when lowlifes take away from society, we as common people should care enough to get involved. Fight back against those who would harm decent people. Everyone will reap what they sow. We have softened as society and too often turn the other cheek out of selfishness and greed. Not to mention that most people today choose to do nothing that might get them too involved. The people are the system, so if we care and get involved, the system has no choice but to change.
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