Boondock Saints
Boondock Saints is a movie that's ugly in a lot of ways. It's got a veneer of working class disdain for political correctness. Political correctness is FAR away from this movie. The two characters that are the "heroes" are vigilante murderers. They don't check their facts before they kill someone, just as long as they assume they're bad. And they have a boyish delight in what they do. They're Conner (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) Macmanus, Irish twins who work at a meat packing plant and have had limited success in life and really don't care about anything more than each other. They're extremely devout Catholic and even before they decide to head out on their mission to clean the earth of scum one person at a time, they show a remarkably unnatural ability to keep a calm head under pressure. They're also far smarter than they should be. Their spiral into vigilanteism starts when they're attacked after starting a bar fight with Russian mafia. When the Russians get the terrible idea of getting payback by killing Murphy to get to Conner, Conner kills the Russians and the brothers realize they sort of have a talent. From there on out it's a bloodbath that Conner and Murphy take a kind of glee in. The FBI agent sent to bring them in finds himself strangely okay with their killing of people that he can't take care of.
The movie completely rests on Flanery and Reedus being believable and LIKABLE as blue collar vigilante killers. And they are. They're completely appealing. Conner is the tougher twin. He tends to take the lead in most things, which probably has something to do with the fact that Reedus has a ridiculously sweet and soft spoken voice, simply making Murphy SOUND nicer. Murphy is more emotional and volatile than Conner, but he's also the more thoughtful one and when push comes to shove, gives the impression of being a bit more gentle than Conner, though just as scary when provoked. They're both fun loving, though their sense of humor tends to run to prankish humor and jokes that are a bit on the dark side. It quickly becomes apparent at the end of the movie that killing runs in the family and they're willing to devote themselves to being avenging angels for anyone who steps out of line. The movie ends with people arguing over whether the Saints are good or bad or something in between. And there are no answers. For all intents and purposes, Conner and Murphy are killers who should be locked up and mentally unstable, but looking at them from a personal level, they're sort of sweet in a weird way. They're pretty obviously abandoned souls who only have each other and the twin bond is intense. There are countless times when they move in tandem without even thinking about it. They view being vigilantes with a sort of boyish good naturedness, which is creepy, but they're never as dangerous as their friend Rocco, who really doesn't have many redeeming qualities. If you're kin or friends to them, the Macmanus's will do anything for you, but if you're not, there really isn't a lot of empathy.
So, Boondock Saints has always been an interesting movie to me.
Best moments:
1. The turning point scene where Conner is handcuffed to a toilet and has to watch Murphy being taken out into the street to be shot. The defiant quietness to Reedus in that scene is unsettling. The look he throws over his shoulder at Conner says nothing and everything. I think he really does think he's going to die at that moment and while he doesn't seem completely surprised that Conner comes for him, I think that look was a defiant goodbye. It shows just how close the brothers are (Conner literally tears the place apart to get to Murphy) and also what cold customers they are under pressure (well at least Murphy, who thinks to pick up all the guns before carrying his brother away).
2. The twins rapidly switching from Russian to French to Italian to German to Spanish when being questioned. It's like their own secret twin language, only smarter. They make it obvious that they're hyper intelligent in strange areas. Sure, they don't think through their first kills, but they're naturals at improvising. And they trust each other to be able to take care of themselves. There's a moment in a bar fight when Conner literally stops people from helping Murphy, saying Murphy can take care of himself (which he does quite handily with a wine bottle).
3. Rocco being killed. I didn't like Rocco and found him to be an unsympathetic character, but he's the boys friend and when he's tortured and killed in front of them, it gets a huge reaction from the normally ice cold brothers. In character, Conner tries to talk Rocco through the torture while Murphy just about loses his mind and ends up being the one Rocco says his last words to, while Murphy hovers near hysteria. The boys have a heart for those they care about, but heaven help whoever hurts what they care about.
4. The nice moments the brothers are shown caring about people. The two of them playing with a kid at the hospital. Murphy literally looking like he's going to vomit with worry over Rocco when he doesn't call back right away and nearly knocking the phone over. Conner trying to warn Rocco he's being set up and becoming furious when he's ignored. The boys' world is very limited, but those people who enter it are protected by their own brand of gun toting, avenging angels.
The movie completely rests on Flanery and Reedus being believable and LIKABLE as blue collar vigilante killers. And they are. They're completely appealing. Conner is the tougher twin. He tends to take the lead in most things, which probably has something to do with the fact that Reedus has a ridiculously sweet and soft spoken voice, simply making Murphy SOUND nicer. Murphy is more emotional and volatile than Conner, but he's also the more thoughtful one and when push comes to shove, gives the impression of being a bit more gentle than Conner, though just as scary when provoked. They're both fun loving, though their sense of humor tends to run to prankish humor and jokes that are a bit on the dark side. It quickly becomes apparent at the end of the movie that killing runs in the family and they're willing to devote themselves to being avenging angels for anyone who steps out of line. The movie ends with people arguing over whether the Saints are good or bad or something in between. And there are no answers. For all intents and purposes, Conner and Murphy are killers who should be locked up and mentally unstable, but looking at them from a personal level, they're sort of sweet in a weird way. They're pretty obviously abandoned souls who only have each other and the twin bond is intense. There are countless times when they move in tandem without even thinking about it. They view being vigilantes with a sort of boyish good naturedness, which is creepy, but they're never as dangerous as their friend Rocco, who really doesn't have many redeeming qualities. If you're kin or friends to them, the Macmanus's will do anything for you, but if you're not, there really isn't a lot of empathy.
So, Boondock Saints has always been an interesting movie to me.
Best moments:
1. The turning point scene where Conner is handcuffed to a toilet and has to watch Murphy being taken out into the street to be shot. The defiant quietness to Reedus in that scene is unsettling. The look he throws over his shoulder at Conner says nothing and everything. I think he really does think he's going to die at that moment and while he doesn't seem completely surprised that Conner comes for him, I think that look was a defiant goodbye. It shows just how close the brothers are (Conner literally tears the place apart to get to Murphy) and also what cold customers they are under pressure (well at least Murphy, who thinks to pick up all the guns before carrying his brother away).
2. The twins rapidly switching from Russian to French to Italian to German to Spanish when being questioned. It's like their own secret twin language, only smarter. They make it obvious that they're hyper intelligent in strange areas. Sure, they don't think through their first kills, but they're naturals at improvising. And they trust each other to be able to take care of themselves. There's a moment in a bar fight when Conner literally stops people from helping Murphy, saying Murphy can take care of himself (which he does quite handily with a wine bottle).
3. Rocco being killed. I didn't like Rocco and found him to be an unsympathetic character, but he's the boys friend and when he's tortured and killed in front of them, it gets a huge reaction from the normally ice cold brothers. In character, Conner tries to talk Rocco through the torture while Murphy just about loses his mind and ends up being the one Rocco says his last words to, while Murphy hovers near hysteria. The boys have a heart for those they care about, but heaven help whoever hurts what they care about.
4. The nice moments the brothers are shown caring about people. The two of them playing with a kid at the hospital. Murphy literally looking like he's going to vomit with worry over Rocco when he doesn't call back right away and nearly knocking the phone over. Conner trying to warn Rocco he's being set up and becoming furious when he's ignored. The boys' world is very limited, but those people who enter it are protected by their own brand of gun toting, avenging angels.