by Kasey Sailer

Created on: November 08, 2010

Troy Duffy (Writer/Director) was inspired by his disgust when he saw a drug dealer taking money from a corpse across the hall from his apartment.  This disgusting spectacle he witnessed would result in the screenplay for The Boondock Saints, the 2000 cult classic.  This movie only had a week long run at the box office—in only five theaters—because it was handicapped by its timing, which was soon after the Columbine High School Shootings and the short-lived outrage about violent cinema that followed.  However, after being released on DVD, word of mouth spread across the internet start brought worldwide attention to the often unheard of movie.

The Boondock Saints is officially designated as a crime/thriller film.  The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as the Macmanus brothers, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self-defense.  Soon after this they receive what they believe to be a message from God telling them to hunt down wicked men, so that the innocent will flourish.  Along the way their friend Rocco (David Della Rocco) convinces them to let him join.  They soon set out to rid their home city of Boston of crime and evil.  Throughout the film they are pursued by FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe).

The Boondock Saints is rated R and is not a movie for kids (if anything, you will want to watch it first to see if you approve).  It has strong violence, including executions and religious violence.  The characters use a lot of language throughout the movie.  There is also some brief nudity too. 

This movie’s rise to cult classic became evident almost a decade later when The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day opened in theaters in 2009, with a successful box office run.  It has surely shown the power of fans to recognize, and spread the message, of a good movie when they see it.  After watching this movie, you can see how this premise could be all to real and may be something you read about in the news.  It is a well made movie with excellent acting.  Also, if you have Netflix, it is available to watch instantly, so you can add to your instant queue today.

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