20140314: Drama Review--The Boondock Saints

The Boondock Saints

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. Canadian live action feature length film, 1999, UR, 108 minutes, action, drama, crime.
2. IMDB: 7.9/10.0 from 170,740 audience ratings.  Estimated budget, 7 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 20% on the meter; 92% liked it from 331,964 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 4.1/5.0 from 6,866,595 audience ratings.
5. Written and directed by: Troy Duffy.
6. Starring:  Sean Patrick Flanery as Connor McManus, Norman Reedus as Murphy McManus, Willem Defoe as Paul Smecker, Billy Connally as Il Duce, David Della Rocco as Rocco.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Connor and Murphy, two Irish brothers in Boston, accidentally kill a couple of mob thugs.  They turn themselves in to the Boston PD, but are released and hailed as heroes.
   


2. After healing up and getting more equipment from friendly sources, the brothers start killing mobsters deliberately.  They take more than a bit of care in laying out the corpses, placing coins on their eyes, and policing the scene.


3. Agent Smecker, a gay FBI agent specialising in organised crime, deconstructs the crime scenes and soon suspects the brothers.  He's in a quandary for a while because the crime figures are the very people he would otherwise want to put behind bars.


4. After a time, they run with Rocco, who is not quite so careful as the brothers.  After a shootout with Il Duce, Smecker collects a finger, and the DNA points to Rocco.


5. The confessional scene with Rocco, the father, Connor, and Smecker was hilarious.  Afterward, Connor calls Smecker and tells him there will be big nasty meeting.


6. Will the brothers survive this one, or will the mob finally triumph?  Can Smecker get things under control?


3. Conclusions
1. One line summary: This cult film definitely deserves to be seen by action fans.
2. Four stars of five.


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 10/10 Just fine.


2. Sound: 10/10 Also no problems.


3. Acting: 8/10 Willem Dafoe was great.  Flanery and Reedus were fine in their roles.  Most of the other players were competent.


4. Screenplay: 8/10 The story has some holes for believability, but it does move right along, and the quandary of the FBI agent is interesting.