The Boondock Saints: Difference between revisions
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[[File:boondock_saints.jpg|
{{quote|''"And shepherds we shall be, for Thee, my Lord, for Thee.''
''Power hath descended forth from Thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command.''
''So we shall flow a river forth to Thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be,''
''In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti."''
|Connor and Murphy MacManus, delivering the family prayer before executing someone.}}
'''''The Boondock Saints''''' was an independent film directed by Troy Duffy in 1999 about two [[Oireland|Irish Catholic]] brothers from [[Southies|South Boston]], Connor and Murphy MacManus (played by Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus), who become [[Vigilante Man|vigilantes]] on a "[[Mission
The brothers kill the mobsters and then turn themselves into the police, though they are quickly released on their self-defense plea. They learn the location of the syndicate's leaders, then kill them all. They are quickly joined by their best friend David Della Rocco (played by an actor who [[The Danza|shares the name]]), a package boy for the local Italian mafia, who enlists their help in taking down his former syndicate after he is sold out by his bosses Papa Joe and Vincenzo.
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Everything comes to a head when the Italians, tired of being picked off like flies, call in the mysterious hitman Il Duce (played by comedian Billy Connolly in one of his rare dramatic roles) to kill Rocco, who they believe is responsible for the killings. When the three Saints and the Duke collide, all hell quickly breaks loose; and when it is finally learned just who Il Duce is, the stage is set for a final reckoning that will bring the South Boston mob to its knees.
''The Boondock Saints'' ran for all of a week in only a few theaters because no major distributor would touch the film after Duffy's falling out with his initial executive producer Harvey Weinstein. (The then-recent crackdown on violent action and horror movies and media in general following the school shooting at [[Columbine]] High School earlier that year [[Too Soon|didn't help things either]].) But when it was released several years later on FOX DVD, the movie became a ''massive'' [[Cult Classic|cult success]]. Fans compare the film to [[Quentin Tarantino]]'s classics ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'' and ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', and [[Robert Rodriguez]]'s ''[[Desperado]]''. A sequel called ''The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'' was rumored for years (the first film ends on one hell of a cliffhanger) and was finally released on October 30, 2009.
The film ''Overnight'' details Troy Duffy's [[Small Name, Big Ego|inflation of ego]] during the making of the film. He kinda [[Prima Donna Director|went off the rails]], a bit. While he has tried to [https://web.archive.org/web/20101018191133/http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/10/28/the-filmcast-interview-troy-duffy-director-of-the-boondock-saints-2-all-saints-day/ apologize for his past behavior], if you watch the doc you'll get a better idea of why we had to wait ''ten years'' for the sequel.
It is especially popular for St. Paddy's Day drinking games, where if you sip every time someone curses, you're hammered by 30 minutes in. Because of this, some people have never seen the whole movie, nor seen it sober.
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Not to be confused with ''[[The Boondocks]]''.
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{{tropelist}}
== In Both Films ==
* [[Anachronic Order]]: One of the reasons it is compared to [[Quentin Tarantino]]. The majority of the movies show investigators poring over the fight scenes first, and [[How We Got Here|figuring out what happened.]] Their narration may or may not be correct due to [[Unreliable Narrator|missing something, or outright lying]].
* [[Anti-Villain]]: Everyone on the side of the brothers.
* [[As Himself]]: David Della Rocco.
* [[As the Good Book Says...]]
* [[Audience Participation]]: Mostly for the first one, but its cult status has led to some fan screenings, including a few in 2009 on the tenth anniversary of the film's release.
* [[Back-to-Back Badasses]]: The MacManus brothers occasionally do this.
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* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: Multilingual vigilante twins with Irish accents? ''Yes, please.''
* [[Evilly Affable]]: The Saints, concerning their actual targets. When dealing with innocents they fall under [[Affably Evil]] or [[Anti-Villain]].
{{quote|
Murphy: What do you think of that?
Connor: I'm strangely comfortable with it. }}
* [[Fast Roping]]: Lampshaded by Connor and ends up being accidentally invoked by the Saints. In the sequel they play it straight... in an over-the-top way.
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* [[Floating Head Syndrome]]: One of the most awkward examples ever.
* [[Freudian Slip]]: "Fag man" instead of "fat man," though Smecker takes it in stride. During a pep talk, Rocco has one during his [[Rated "M" for Manly]] speech.
{{quote|
'''Murphy''': Hard men!
'''Connor''': Doing hard shit!
'''Rocco''': And that gives me a hard-on! *[[Record Scratch]]* But not in a gay way or anything like that. }}
* [[Friendly Sniper]]: Connor and Murphy would be friendly even if they ''weren't'' on a mission from God to shoot evil people in the head.
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** Romeo is able to figure out who they are quickly in the sequel, since not only do they ''talk'' about [[Exact Eavesdropping|matching their police sketches and dying their hair to reduce the risk of being recognized]], but they are a pair of Irish guys carrying a bunch of pennies.
* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: A toilet in the first film, as well as a billiard ball. In the second, a tattoo pen for minor comic relief.
* [[Inspector Lestrade]]: Greenly. Until Smecker arrives.
* [[Invisible Advertising]]: As mentioned, the film was all ready to be released, but unfortunate timing meant it had to be released quietly.
** The second movie was set up this way at first, but positive reception among the fans gave it two wider releases.
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* [[Man Child|Men Children]]: When they're not shooting people in the head, Connor and Murphy bicker and tussle like ten year old boys.
* [[Missing Mom]]: The condition of Murphy and Connor's mother {{spoiler|(and, presumably, Il Duce's estranged wife or possibly ex-wife)}} is never touched on in the released films. A deleted scene from the first film has the twins receiving an ill-timed phone call from her, but how that scene fits into canon is debatable.
* [[Mission
* [[Moral Dissonance]]: The brothers' moral compass is a bit loose. They give Rocco a free pass, despite him having a career in the Mafia which failed only because of his own incompetence, because he's a good drinking buddy. And they are perfectly willing to buy all their guns from a man ''heavily'' implied to be [[The Troubles|IRA]]. Not to mention they seem to have no qualms about stealing from the mobsters they kill even before they receive their [[Mission
** Lampshaded by Rocco.
{{quote|
'''Connor''': "Aye."
'''Rocco''': "Don't you think that's a little weird, a little psycho?" }}
* [[Motivation on a Stick]]: Detective Greenley humorously suggests that the only way they're going to catch the
{{quote|
* [[Never Hurt an Innocent]]: All the Saints, although they did tase that housewife in the first film after getting access to her husband's poker game ([[Asshole Victim|said husband and his poker buddies are all mobsters]]). But as knocking her out meant she wouldn't get in the way and inadvertently be killed in the crossfire, this is likely justified.
* [[No Name Given]] / [[Unnamed Parent]]: One is more likely to survive in this film ''without'' a name. The brothers' names are Connor and Murphy -- which is rarely mentioned in either film while every other character gets a pause and a brief caption that literally spells out their identity. Il Duce {{spoiler|their father}} gets a caption that reveals absolutely nothing and is only addressed by his real name, {{spoiler|Noah}}, in the second film. The Roman as well only gets a proper name during the last third of the second film.
* [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] / [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: Many of the beautiful choral hymns play over gorier scenes.
* [[Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping]]: The brothers, often.
** Justified by their [[Omniglot]] status; the brothers learned their languages well enough that their accents have been rendered about as battered as Connor
** By the second movie, it seems their accents are almost intentionally bad. Julie Benz' accent is also overdone for comic effect.
* [[Omniglot]]: The brothers speak at least a half-dozen languages fluently.
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* [[Smoking Is Cool]]: The Saints all smoke, [[Everybody Smokes|as do many other characters]]. [[Word of God]] says that during the Il Duce firefight in the first film, they needed to put a cigar in Billy Connolly's mouth because he [[Trigger Happy|would not stop smiling.]]
* [[Throw-Away Guns]]: Il Duce's signature gun vest.
* [[
* [[Twin Tropes]]: Connor and Murphy are fraternal twins, though they don't fit many [[Twin Tropes]] besides [[Twin Telepathy]] (which is the only way they could have the same dream in both the first film and the sequel, and a mild variant of [[Different As Night and Day]].
* [[Ultimate Job Security]]: Arguably Detective Greenly, who is somewhat incompetent compared to Smecker (and even Dolly and Duffy to an extent). However, he is only shown as being bad at making theories, not at ''everything''. Also, Greenly claims in the second film that he, Dolly, and Duffy have put away half the guys that are in prison. While he was obviously exaggerating, the other characters wouldn't hesitate to [[Dude, Where's My Respect?|take the piss out of him]] if it was a total lie.
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* [[Wall of Weapons]]: The underground storage bunker that they get their stock from.
==
* [[Air Vent Passageway]]: Subverted and Lampshaded - the brothers use an air vent to get into the Russian Mobster's meeting, but get lost. They only end up in the right place because they start fighting each other and cause the vent to break through the ceiling, dumping them right into the correct room. Later, Smecker lampshades this, noting that they're amateurs because [[Air Vent Passageway|Air Vent Escapes]] only happen on TV and no pro would try it.
* [[Almighty Janitor]]: In dealing with the Saints, Yakavetta turns to retired mobster Augustus [[Di Stephano]], who works as a bathroom attendant. He is apparently well-connected enough to get Il Duce out of prison.
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** Later, one of the two Russian gangsters gets a toilet dropped directly on his cranium. There are many, many other examples. Let's just say that this film ties with ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'' in the [[Refuge in Audacity|Hilarious Carnage department]].
* [[Angrish]]: Loads and loads. Of note is Rocco's reaction to the Copley Plaza massacre is one of these involving a [[Cluster F-Bomb]].
{{quote|
'''Connor''': Well, that certainly illustrates the ''diversity'' of the word. }}
* [[Apathetic Citizens]]: "Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."
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* [[The Danza]]: Carmine Distephano plays Augustus Distephano, a retired mob boss. Also, a man named David Della Rocco is played by none other than David Della Rocco.
* [[Dare to Be Badass]]: In a way, the priest's sermon in the beginning of the film:
{{quote|
* [[Dumbass Has a Point]]: Greenly. He manages to correctly state the motive behind the
* [[Flash Back]]: All the hits except the last are shown like this, usually involving Agent Smecker working out what happened. Eventually Smecker and the Saints are shown in the same scene, showing how Smecker now identifies with them.
* [[Freud Was Right]]: One of the detectives [[Freudian Slip|accidentally]] says "fag man" instead of "fat man" in front of Agent Smecker (who even comments that "[[Trope Namer|Freud was right]]").
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* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: The Saints as a whole.
* [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|What Do You Mean Its Not Symbology]]
* [[You! Get Me Coffee!]]: Whenever Detective Greenly would say something stupid or mouth off to Agent Smecker, he would be dispatched to fetch coffee and bagels.
==
* [[Art Shift]]: The envisioned attack on the Asian drug gang is shot like a grindhouse film, with an appropriate soundtrack.
* [[Bad Boss]]: Concezio Yakevetta, he breaks the jaw of one of his subordinates just because he corrected his pronunciation of a word.
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* [[Gun Twirling]]: Eunice Bloom twirling a revolver as she recounts the attack on the Yakavettas.
* [[Hand Cannon]]: In the sequel, the brothers trade in their Berettas for [[Rare Guns|Desert Eagles]] but it is also subverted when Romeo asks for a handgun and the brothers give him a tiny pocket pistol.
* [[Hiding Behind the Language Barrier]]: Romeo speaks Spanish to his uncle to ask his uncle not to embarrass him in front of the
* [[Homage]]: Flashback scenes showing an older character's origins in crime amongst Italians in the early 1900s. [[The Godfather|Sound familiar?]]
* [[Important Haircut]]: [[Lampshaded]]. The brothers wonder why they cut their hair since they now match their police sketches, when previously they looked "like Jesus Christ."
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* [[Testosterone Poisoning]]: Rocco's monologue runs dangerously close to this. Especially the part where he suffers a [[Freudian Slip]] partway through.
* [[This Is Sparta]]
{{quote|
'''Murphy:''' Shades of [[Clint Eastwood|Eastwood]]...
'''Connor:''' [[Death Wish|Charlie Bronson]]...
'''Rocco:''' [[John Wayne|Duke. Fucking. Wayne.]]
'''Both Brothers:''' ''DUKE! FUCKING! WAYNE!'' }}
* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: Special Agent Eunice Bloom's re-enactment of the bar shootout subtly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this during the slow-mo shot of the guys shooting each other. When she walks past the last pair of guys, she mimes shooting the guy on the right twice as he takes two bullets... ''before'' the guy opposite him raises his weapon and fires off the third shot that goes into the him. She even [[Aside Glance|smirks at the camera]] when this happens.
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* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: Romeo. An approving pat on the hand from his uncle and clear father figure results in [[Manly Tears]] from Romeo as he reflects on it later. Naturally, the brothers tease him for it.
* [[With Due Respect]]: Lampshaded.
{{quote|
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Films of the 1990s]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Film]]
[[Category:Cult Classic]]
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