The Boondock Saints, 1999 - DVD

Ok, first off, way before I knew about this film (hell, it was before they were born), I named my two cats Boon and Doc... get it?

Christ, ok.

People have been telling me to watch this film for months. It completely flew by me when it was in the theaters (if it was), and has pretty much disappeared from the mainstream audience. I don't think it's a cult film, I think it rates higher than that. It's a film that most people who enjoy smart action films, revenge films, should see.

Who is Troy Duffy? Good question. From nowhere he comes and creates an incredibly well written script with well developed characters and an original plot.

Now, this film has been heralded as a Pulp Fiction knock off, but I don't see that at all. In fact, on the DVD case, both Reservoir Dogs and Fiction are mentioned... I suppose it was fashionable to say that films were 'just like' these two films, but I find this movie to be more like Leon (The Professional), if anything, than Tarantino's first two films.

This is, by far, one of my favorite Dafoe films. He's so incredibly geniune and funny in this picture, I keep hoping to see him enjoying himself this much in other films. He doesn't steal the picture from the two main actors, but he stands out incredibly bright. I think that's a trademark of a good script, where three different characters can have their own on screen time and be powerful, but not overshadown each other.

You see this sometimes when it comes to certain actors, whose portrayal is so brilliant that they damp down the rest of the cast. Not the case in this film.

You might, you might not recognize the two main characters, played by Flanery and Reedus.

Flanery is most known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones in the Young Indiana Jones series. Flanery's first real mainstream film role was in Powder, playing the main character, in 1995. His only other mainstream picture was Suicide Kings, with an all star cast of the young who's who in the mid to late nineties.

Reedus's first role was in Guillermo del Toro's Mimic in 1997. del Toro would again use Reedus in the 2002 sequel to Blade, Blade II as Scud. 8MM and Deuces Wild are the only other two films I recognize in Reedus's resume.

The two are perfect in this film. Their chemistry together is seemless, acting truly like brothers. I was very impressed with their work in this film, and I hope that, not only they get more mainstream roles in the future, but that the sequel to this film, Boondock Saints II: All Saint's Day, is just as powerful and entertaining.

David Della Rocco is a friend of Duffy's, who wrote the part specifically for him. Well, again, Duffy did the right thing. Rocco is hysterical in his role, and plays the character to a T. The problem is, we haven't seen him since, which is a shame. Is he not a full time actor? Was this a once in a lifetime thing? I would hope not. He had more charm and personality in this film than a lot of full time mainstream actors who get paid a lot of money to 'entertain' us.

Finally, Billy Connolly. I really enjoy his work. I think the first time I saw him act was in Still Crazy in 1998. Since then, he's had a pretty good hold in American film as that British guy... I've only seen one of his last two films, Timeline... the other being The Last Samurai. He's got a role in the upcoming Lemony Snickett, along with Boodock II.

The directing in this film is incredibly original and keeps the pace of the film flowing... but the most important thing, the most original thing in the film, is the editing. Bill DeRonde has done mostly television editing, especially lately. He's only edited three films (this being one of them), and got an Additional Editor credit for Not Another Teen Movie. Pariah was the third.

Brilliant editing, just brilliant. You can't help but notice how smart the work is, and I'm sure that Duffy worked very closely with DeRonde in the post production process.

Can't say enough about this movie. It's funny, it's action packed, it's got a great storyline. I was very impressed with Duffy's work, and I hope that part II is as entertaining. Hopefully we'll see Duffy direct something else, after, with the same style and originality he did with this film.