Classic Movie Review: The Boondock Saints (1999)

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Boondock Saints, there are a few theaters across the country that are having a special screening of the original movie on March 11th. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, you really need to go buy your tickets now! Even if you have already seen it, this is an incredible opportunity to see this amazing movie on the big screen once again so go get your tickets. Also, the sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, will be out on DVD March 9th.

Jessie's thoughts:
5 pops

The first time that I watched The Boondock Saints, I was astounded. This was one of the best movies that I had ever seen and yet it had been out for 5 years and I’d never heard of it before. It was such a well-done, unique movie and yet it was not a hit at the box office at all. In fact, it was not even on the box office radar. It wasn’t until after this movie came to video that it became such a big success purely through word of mouth.
Now, I have to say, one of the reasons that I love this movie as much as I do is because the acting is just incredible. This movie was such a low-budget film and yet you really wouldn’t know that from watching it. Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery play Murphy and Connor McManus and the first time that I watched this, I actually thought that the actors were Irish. They do the accents so well and you really, truly can believe that they’re brothers except that they don’t really look anything alike. Willem Dafoe, David Della Rocco and Billy Connelly are also big players in the movie and they’re amazing. I honestly don’t think there’s one person in this film that did not do an incredible job.
Plus, the movie really has everything that you could want in a film. It is definitely an action flick, but there is just the right amount of comedy in there as well. It’s funny enough that at times you will for sure be laughing out loud, but there’s not so much that it takes away from the more serious plot line. I definitely think that there’s something in this movie for everyone.
But, even though I absolutely love this movie, there are a couple of things that I didn’t really like but they are so insignificant that they really just don’t matter that much. I just feel like I have to throw them out there to be fair to this review. First of all, what two brothers do you know that dress identically all the time? I get that they probably did that so you would know that they are twins since it doesn’t ever actually say that in the movie, but it really is a little weird and it kind of got on my nerves just a little. And, as a friend of mine pointed out to me, it’s not super realistic on the way that it portrays the Catholic church. That really isn’t a huge deal to me since I’m not Catholic and I don’t really know that much about the religion, but you may want to keep that in mind if you are.
Other than those little things, though, this movie is amazing. It’s a definite must-see for everyone, I believe. Although, you might want to let the kids sit out on this one since there’s a lot of violence and a lot of language. It is for sure a cult classic that has made it’s way on to my favorites list and will be there pretty much forever.

Adam's thoughts:
5 pops

What can I say? This is my all time favorite movie. You all know I have nothing but praise for it. If any of you have been a friend of mine you’ll know how much I like this movie by how often I recommend it. It is a must see for anyone who has never seen it. The movie went back to how movies used to be done. Not a whole lot of special effects just plain good acting and an awesome story. The acting was well done by the two main characters. There was chemistry there that you could see and feel. Besides Willem Dafoe is in this movie as a gay cop. That’s just awesome!

Troy Duffy wrote and directed this movie and you could tell he went for a style unlike anyone else’s. I agree with my cohort that it doesn’t portray the Catholic Church correctly. It doesn’t portray it at all! There is maybe ONE scene where they are in a catholic church and then the rest of the movie is about the two on there quest to rid the world of evil as God's hand. Who cares if it didn’t get the religion correct? It wasn’t about that. It was about good men fighting evil men because they should. The fact that they were Irish only gave it style. True, the brothers dressed a lot alike but I think this fact only unified their coolness. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m kind of a closet geek and if me and my little brother went on a mob hunt with automatic weapons I’d INSIST on wearing identical clothing and sunglasses. We’d also have to smoke.. That’s a must.

So this movie had its cultish quirks but I think it gave the movie the needed style to set it apart. Not to mention that the story and the acting make this movie top notch. The comedy comes in as realistic as possible. Think about it, you're out with some friends at a house, your drinking…. A LOT! There is semi-automatic weapons on the table in front of you, an annoying cat is licking up some mess on the table nearby, your pissed for being underappreciated at your job, you slam your hands on the table pissed off and oops one of the guns go off and the cat is dead. I could SOO see that happening in real life. All the comedy is well placed.

I really don’t have anything bad to say about this movie. No negatives at all. Go see it and if you don’t then you’re a dummy. Really… who wants to be a dummy these days.

Now I’m off to go buy a matching jumpsuit and sunglasses with my brother, Jake.