Home Entertainment Guilty Pleasures – The Boondock Saints

Guilty Pleasures – The Boondock Saints

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Hey, I’m not all parody films ya know! Here’s a slice of action featuring one of my favourite nations, Billy Connelly, a porn star, one dead cat and an insane amount of booze.

I love action films, and I love buddy films, but rarely, do those two ever meet. There’s something magnificent about a movie that manages to keep audiences on the edge of their seats, while also making us really care for the characters on the screen.

And that’s just one of the reasons why I loved the Boondock Saints when it came out in 1999. I was just a wee lad back then, with a habit for sneaking into movies which were rated for audiences quite a few years above my actual age (Eyes Wide Shut was one hell of a confusing film for me when I snuck into that), but the Boondock Saints is a film that can be appreciated by any age group.

There’s just something about the way that the two main stars of the film, Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus, alongside David Della Rocko, get along. You really feel for these guys, you really like them, despite the fact that they’re murdering any and all gangsters that they encounter.

They’re modern day punishers with only a small amount of skill and a ton of luck, cleaning up the underworld of their fair city of Boston. But it’s all done so beautifully, and with a chemistry that would make Captain Kirk and his crew from the old Star Trek films jealous.

And then you’ve got the rest of the cast, a colourful mixture of bumbling cops, dangerous kingpins, confused bartenders and Willem Dafoe displaying a lethal intelligence.

Mixed with a great soundtrack, some fantastic action sequences and some genuinely heart-wrenching scenes, the whole film is just beautifully put together.

It’s the Citizen Kane of the action genre, a masterpiece of bullets and quips, style and substance. I may not be the most religious guy out there, but even I could appreciate the catholic gestures and visual cues in the film, as it brutally juxtaposed violence with faith in some scenes.

But for a visceral film such as this, I always had fun watching it. That’s what counts, that’s what really matters at the end of the day. Sure, you can look deeper into it and ask yourself questions on whether vigilantism should be justified, or you can just grab the popcorn, sit back, and have a good time, and don’t forget the bloody rope!

 

Last Updated: June 28, 2012

16 Comments

  1. Kervyn Cloete

    June 28, 2012 at 15:49

    Confusion? Yeah, that’s exactly what I felt when greeted by the orgy scene in Eyes Wide Shut. Confusion!

    Reply

  2. Tracy Benson

    June 28, 2012 at 16:02

    “He’s goin’ nowhere. Where you goin’? Nowhere!” Love this movie

    Reply

    • Erwin Kempff

      June 28, 2012 at 16:15

      One of my favourite lines in all movies!

      Reply

    • Darryn_Bonthuys

      June 29, 2012 at 07:35

      For me, the best line in the film has to go that poor ol’ barkeep when the Russian gangsters crash in at his pub;
      “Why don’t you make like a tree, an, an, and fook off!”

      Reply

      • Tracy Benson

        June 29, 2012 at 09:05

        Ha ha ha, yes, forgot about that one as well. 

        Reply

      • Erwin Kempff

        June 29, 2012 at 13:36

        “You know what they say, people in glass houses sink ships”

        Reply

  3. James Francis

    June 28, 2012 at 16:36

    I never got the appeal of this film, except when you compare it to the sequel – which was arguably one of the worst films ever made. Sure, it was slick but it never bothered with any substance or, for that matter, coherence. If you were to remove all of Willem Defoe’s scenes, there’s little making this worth watching.

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      June 29, 2012 at 09:19

      This is one of those movies where the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. If you were to review it with a technical checklist, then you’re completely correct, it’s not actually that well made. However there’s something about it that allows it to transcend what it’s actually doing and saying.

      Sort of like John Carter 😀

      Reply

      • James Francis

        June 29, 2012 at 14:46

        So up close it’s a turd, but zoomed out I can appreciate that it feeds the green grass? 🙂

        Reply

  4. Gavin Mannion

    June 29, 2012 at 06:29

    I absolutely loved this movie, I must have seen it easily 20 times already and it never gets old.

    I think the hypocrisy of the religious aspect is what appeals to me the most but maybe it’s just the pure violence factor?

    Reply

    • Erwin Kempff

      June 29, 2012 at 07:38

      One of the best movies ever. Some of the best action scenes ever. Simply beyond epic.

      Reply

  5. theLastBorn

    June 29, 2012 at 11:22

    This film was/is awesome! those crazy scenes with Rocco, that fight with the brothers at the start, the shenanigans they get up to the whole film, the twists and turns, it was just this crazy film that was fun to watch!

    Reply

  6. Tj

    June 29, 2012 at 17:21

    FUCK. ASS.

    Reply

  7. Guest

    June 29, 2012 at 17:23

    “We’re sorta like 7-11…we’re not always doing business, but we’re always open.”
    “That was nicely put.”
     

    Reply

  8. Noelle Adams

    July 2, 2012 at 09:21

    Boondock Saints a guilty pleasure? It’s stylised action awesomeness! 

    It’s sequel however was appalling…

    Reply

  9. Jonnya

    July 3, 2012 at 14:32

    For all the snobs that say it’s not a good movie technically, you’re right.  Is it entertaining,absolutely.  Yeah, there is no real cohesiveness to the film.  You really don’t know why they started their escapades except for the run in with the Russian Mafia.  Defoe is just brilliant.  He is the best part of the film.  The chemistry between Rocco, Flannery, and Reedus is obvious.  These guys had a lot of fun making the film.  It’s also a lot of fun to watch.  I hope they come out with a third installment.  I heard an interview with Flannery a while back and he confirmed that they are working on it.  He made no predictions on timing though.  I agree with a previous comment about the sequel being pretty lame.  

    Reply

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