On St. Patrick's Day, everyone has a bit of Irish in them. At least that's true according to the MacManus brothers, Connor and Murphy (played by Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus) in "The Boondock Saints."
Not everyone agrees though. When the Russian Crime Syndicate starts taking over the city and shutting down businesses left and right, including the brothers' favorite pub, somebody needs to step up and do something.
The devoutly religious brothers find themselves believing they are "inspired" by God. They begin searching out all the low-life scum inhabiting South Boston, including Russian and Italian mob members. By following their oaths of Veritas and Aequitas — truth and justice — they go on a killing spree. But the public seems to be behind them and dub them the "Saints of South Boston."
The bumbling Boston Police Department has no idea what is going on, they barely know the difference between symbology and symbolism. FBI agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) is right on their tail with some sort of psychic ability.
Along with the brothers, the Italian mob's "funny guy" Rocco (David Della Rocco) joins their ranks and helps take out his own. Yakavetta (Carlo Rota), the Italian mob boss, gets scared and hires Il Duce (Billy Connolly) to kill the brothers.
Smecker figures out what the brothers are doing. The decision of whether or not he should arrest them finds him conflicted since he agrees with the idea of killing off all the criminals, low-lifes and mobsters.
The MacManus brothers have become vigilantes for God: saying prayers, wearing crosses and providing coins for the boatman in the afterlife. Too bad there's that one commandment that says "Thou shall not kill."
The movie uses the same technique as movies like "Kill Bill" by placing the audience right in the middle of the action and jumping to different places on the timeline. The technique has the audience guessing what has, will and won't happen throughout the movie.
At the end of the movie, there are interviews with "the public" to make the movie seem more like a documentary rather than a feature film.
Dafoe is perfect in his role as the somewhat flamboyant Smecker. His cynical attitude and on-point delivery give his character the right amount of authority. The scenes where Dafoe is retelling the tale of the crimes are spellbinding. Plus, Dafoe goes the length — by dressing like a woman — and looks good.
Flanery, Reedus and Rocco have great chemistry as the brothers and the funny man. They put enough emotion and passion into the roles to show that the characters care for each other and want to protect each other.
However, a shocking yet hilarious scene involving a cat and the "three musketeers" shows how unprepared and amateur they are.
"The Boondock Saints" has become somewhat of a cult classic. It's highly enjoyable and better than most of the shoot-'em-up movies currently hitting the shelves.
This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Mar. 17 2005.