The Boondock Saints
1999 · Directed by Troy Duffy
Original language: English
- action
- thriller
- crime
The story
Tired of the crime overrunning the streets of Boston, Irish Catholic twin brothers Conner and Murphy are inspired by their faith to cleanse their hometown of evil with their own brand of zealous vigilante justice. As they hunt down and kill one notorious gangster after another, they become controversial folk heroes in the community. But Paul Smecker, an eccentric FBI agent, is fast closing in on their blood-soaked trail.
What it’s like
Gritty, saturated Boston streets in cold, wet, sodium-orange light, with shadows that pool hard against brick and tenement stairwells. Handheld, jittery camera work sits alongside slow-motion gunfights and a loud, needle-drop soundtrack of Irish folk and punk, so the picture feels by turns raw and stylised. The mood is wry and kinetic, a darkly comic revenge fable played with real swagger and a streak of Catholic solemnity. The violence is frequent, bloody and cartoonishly stylised, with a few brutal execution scenes and profane, crude dialogue; it is more gleeful than grim, but it is not gentle. Best for late-night watchers who want a stylised action film with black humour, a rough-edged buddy dynamic and an eccentric, scene-stealing supporting turn, rather than anything quiet or restful.
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