Norman Reedus, Sean Patrick Flanery, Willem Dafoe

Encouraged by the public's praise, two Catholic brothers, Conner and Murphy MacManus bring a bloody brand of vigilante justice against Boston's Russian mafia and crime lord Yakavetta.

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93% liked it

291,056 ratings

Critics

16% liked it

19 critics

R, 2 hrs. 30 min.

Directed by: Troy Duffy

Release Date: November 19, 1999

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DVD Release Date: May 21, 2002

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Flixster Reviews (35,440)


  • November 17, 2009
    First - what is this film really about? Towards the end of the last century, only two cities in America had an "Irish mob", Boston and Brooklyn, and Brooklyn's was fading fast, caught up in smuggling in easily identifiable illegal aliens and smuggling guns back to an IRA that's n...( read more)o longer even all that popular in the north.. During the 1980s, an enterprising FBI agent got it in his head that the way to contain the Italian mob in Boston (which was still strong on the docks) was to pay the South Boston Irish mob to rub them out. The scheme not only proved ineffective, but surfaced publicly and created quite a scandal. Several films were made about it; besides this one, the only other film loosely derived from the event that I've seen is "Southie". Most of these films - including this one, have taken an odd tact - they have concerned themselves largely with two questions: First, what does it mean to be "Irish American" in the post-modern era, when no American gives a damn about Irish ancestry anymore; and second, what is the difference between Irish Catholicism and Italian Catholicism, as found in the underworld, which, after all, suffers from a want of morality all together.

    Those who've seen "Good Will Hunting" will recognize the first question. Although the second question seems completely off the wall, it should still ring a few bells - remember "Road to Perdition"? How about Ray Iotta's character in "Goodfellas" (he's never a 'made-man' to the mob because he's half-Irish)? Troy Duffy has made this second issue central and made the first dependent on it - what remains of Irish-American culture is derived from Irish Catholicism (this, by the way, is a very Irish view on the matter). However, being an Irish Catholic in America inevitably involves a certain amount of apostasy - i.e., transgressive skepticism - which, for every Irish American boy leads through a phase of a profound sense of undefinable guilt - God probably doesn't exist, but he's still judging us anyway. Eventually, there are only two ways to wrench one's self out of this guilt - through art or through laughter. Duffy is clearly using both.

    What Duffy has done is to take Irish Catholicism, sent it back to its roots in the later Dark Ages, dragged it through all kinds of post-modern angst (represented largely by Dafoe, but discoverable at virtually every turn), and resurrected it as an allegory of Christ's Passion represented as tale of Medieval knights in navy pea-coats with guns.

    Whew! But this explains why someone like myself, hardly an adolescent "fanboy", might actually like this film. The ironies are so rich, and so deeply embedded with history, that there's always some new twist on the ancient myths turning up at every moment. And the complete disjunction between the ancient myths and the post-modern world in which they appear creates a tension that cannot be resolved in the film itself, but must be left with the audience as a question.

    A violent funny gut-wrenching and disturbing film; a fine farewell to the last century, even if it bodes not well for the new.

    (Oh, and what IS the difference between Irish Catholicism and Italian Catholicism in the criminal underworld? In the old Irish ghettos you either became a priest, a cop, or a drunk; and later your mom made you feel bad for not becoming one of the other two. In the old Italian ghettos you became a drunken priest and shot the cop. Later your mom made you lasagna.)
  • November 6, 2009
    A rags-to-riches story for the director (as covered in the documentary Overnight), but then suppressed due to the Columbine Massacre. Boondock Saints can easily be dismissed as yet another Tarantino clone. It has the dark humor, the wickedly clever dialogue and the fractured narr...( read more)ative. Luckily, over the years, Boondock Saints has proved to be so much more. Garnering a cult status that only time can grant. Boondock Saints may deal with the difficult subjects of the laws of God versus the laws of man, but it also delivers an engaging and entertaining crime drama. I'm not someone who would agree with The Saints' methods, but the film has Flanery and Reedus giving wonderfully human performances. Rocco is also great as the man that understands the ideas, but not the methods. This isn't as simple as killing the bad guys, with Dafoe's crisis of faith and responsibility, it's a whole lot more.
  • September 12, 2009
    A powerful thriller. Wickedly funny, twisted, bullet-riddeld fun. An action-packed thrill-ride that packs an electrifying mixture of bullets, humor, brains, style and originality into one leathal dosage of a movie. Heart-pounding and adreniline-pumping from start to finish. It's ...( read more)thrilling, exciting, exhilerating and absolutely breathtaking. Willem Dafoe is brilliant and cool, it's one of the best performances of his career. Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus are fantastic, they have unique and very compelling chemistry together. A rocking good time. It's almost too enertaining for it's own good. Lots of guilty pleasure fun that you cant get enough of. One of finest independent films I've seen ever. This film delivers the goods. It's an instant classic. A great mixture of film noir, neo noir and dark comedy. An edge of your seat flick that proves to be absolutely addictive.
  • June 21, 2009
    Absolutely perfect! And having learned background information for it (thanks R!) makes it all the more perfect. A stylist, indie combination of Tarantino and Guy Richie with some sicker twists and bloodier messes.

    Norman Reedus has always been a favorite actor of mine and I'm s...( read more)ad that he's not more broadly-known. But the best job in this movie is definitely done by Sean Patrick Flanery. His and Reedus' chemistry just flies off the screen. And I'm not a particular Willem Dafoe fan, but I absolutely adored him in this movie. Great, difficult performance and he pulled it through brilliantly. Everything else is just as splendid: the soundtrack is efficacious, Duffy's directing capability is unquestionable and overall just a great movie I'd recommend to everyone. Much less pretentious than some Lock, Stock and the two smoking barrels, just as funny as Snatch and bringing back Reservoir Dogs memories. And some scenes in it are just unforgettable.

    Great indie cinema days. Can't wait for the sequel. Even if it's not as original and brilliant.
  • March 23, 2009
    I saw The Boondock Saints again today. The first time in a very long time.
    Who doesn't wish someone would rid the world of scum, or just the stupid people? This is the ultimate crime family, mafia, vigilante justice movie. I love this movie! Sean Patrick Flanery is HOT and teame...( read more)d with Norman Reedus and Billy Connelly, make just the best team of bad asses. I love that you can see porn legends Ron Jeremy and Jeanna Fine in this. There are just not enough movies where you see the adult film stars trying to go all serious actor.
    I see that Troy Duffy is making a second one due out later this year, The Boondocks Saints II: All Saint's Day. All the same cast, minus Willem Dafoe. That is kind of a shame, since his role as Paul Smecker was great. He does twisted well. It will however have Judd Nelson in it, as part of the Yakavetta crime family. He stole my heart as John Bender, and I love seeing him play a bad guy. I am definitely looking forward to seeing the sequel.
    If you haven't seen this classic, you really need to.
    Veritas Aequitas
  • November 18, 2009
    I enjoyed this movie and I'm looking forward to see part two.
  • November 7, 2009
    No need to watch it...
  • November 6, 2009
    I love this movie! I can't ever ge enough
  • November 3, 2009
    GREAT MOVIE!! cant wait to c the second installment
  • November 3, 2009
    I can't believe I waited 10 years to watch this movie! The movie has it all action, comedy, drama...though there where some moments in the film where it seemed a tad slow going, if it wasn't for that I may have given it 5 stars.

Critic Reviews


October 23, 2009
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

[A] dim-witted, aesthetically clunky Tarantino clone. full review

View more The Boondock Saints reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • mesmorizexoxo
    March 27, 2009
    One of the best movies ever!! love it! :)
  • lesliejaw
    March 8, 2008
    I love this movie, and would like to say thanks to the actors, cuz i think norman reedus and sean patrick flanery really made it work, they actually pulled off a movie about religious killing...
  • kev256
    February 23, 2008
    I saw this movie a day and i never knew the title... Thnaks God! i finally found it after 4 years
  • sinnerorsaint
    January 9, 2008
    if you didnt like this movie than your freakin crazy this is possibly the best movie ever made. I thought that there was an excellent mix of action and comedy. especially the part where the cop was dressed as a woman and the dude couldnt tell. i mean i found that hilarious. sure it was kind of stupid that he didnt know it was a dude but its a freakin movie and it cant get any better then this.
  • miklitov
    November 19, 2007
    a very bad movie
  • nismo41
    October 26, 2007
    To bad Troy Duffy had to turn out to be such a cock. Otherwise we might have seen more movies like this...Quizz for everyone...IF there were to be a BDS2,who would be an...."appropriate" director for this film?
  • fullmetal93
    October 14, 2007
    You people are crazy..this is the best movie in the whole world. I watch it every other day. "I'll tip her"
  • bballstar05
    June 21, 2007
    great movie... also good for a drinkin game... lol...
  • jvalverde1972
    June 10, 2007
    Some of the best writing I've ever seen...
  • slvrwolf3
    June 10, 2007
    This is one of the best movies ever. I watch it all the time.

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The Boondock Saints Trivia


  • What classic cult film was the only movie written and directed by Troy Duffy and stared David Della Rocko and Sean Patrick Flannery?  Answer »
  • In what movie did two irish religous men and an italian man get a "calling" from god to kill for "good"?  Answer »
  • In what movie was the quote, "The question is not how far, the question is, do you posess the constitution, the depth of faith, to go as far as is needed." ?  Answer »
  • In which movie was the punchline of a joke, "I'll have a coke"?  Answer »

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