The Boondock Saints

The Boondock Saints is a 1999 American vigilante action thriller film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as fraternal twin brothers Connor and Murphy MacManus, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self-defense. After both experience an epiphany, the twin brothers, together with their friend "Funny Man" Rocco (David Della Rocco), set out to rid their home city of Boston of crime and evil, all the while being pursued by FBI special agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe).

Duffy indicates that the screenplay was inspired by personal experience while living in Los Angeles.[4] Initially regarded as one of the hottest scripts in Hollywood, the movie had a troubled production. Miramax Films dropped the project in 1997 before Franchise Pictures picked it up the following year.[5] The film was finally given a limited theatrical release of only five theaters for one week due to movie-studio politics[6] and worries about association with the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. It was met with poor critical reviews; however, the film ultimately grossed about $50 million in domestic video sales[7] and developed a large cult following.[8][9][10] The movie was followed by a 2009 sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.

Plot

In Boston, two Irish American fraternal twin brothers, Connor and Murphy MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus), attend Mass, where the priest mentions the fate of Kitty Genovese. Later, when Connor and Murphy are celebrating Saint Patrick's Day with friends, three Russian mobsters arrive and announce they want to close the pub and take over the land it is built on. A brawl ensues, in which the Russians are defeated and humiliated. The next morning, two of the Russians seek revenge on Connor and Murphy, but Connor and Murphy gain the upper hand and kill the two mobsters in self-defense.

FBI agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) is assigned to the case, and finds that the police and local news reporters see the MacManus twin brothers as heroes. The twin brothers turn themselves in at a police station, where Smecker interviews them. After the twin brothers retell their incident to Smecker, he declines to press charges and allows them to spend the night in a holding cell to avoid attention from the media. That night, Connor and Murphy receive a "calling" from God telling them to hunt down wicked men so that the innocent will flourish and resolve to rid Boston of evil men and, after the twin brothers are released from the holding cell the next morning, Connor learns of a meeting of Russian syndicate bosses at a hotel and, having equipped themselves with weaponry from a local underground gun dealer, the twin brothers quickly kill all nine of the Russian mobsters, while Rocco, a friend of the twin brothers and errand boy for local mafia boss Giuseppe "Papa Joe" Yakavetta (Carlo Rota), is sent on a hit as an unknowing pawn. The next day, learning that he was betrayed, having been sent to kill nine Russian mobsters with only a six-shooter revolver, Rocco commits himself to helping Connor and Murphy. That night, the trio hunt down and kill Vincenzo Lapazzi (Ron Jeremy), an underboss of the Yakavetta crime family and two others.

Concerned he may be a target, Papa Joe contacts a hitman, Il Duce (Billy Connolly), to deal with them. After killing several more criminals, one of whom Rocco had a personal hatred for, the twin brothers and Rocco are ambushed by Il Duce, leading to an intense shootout. Although they manage to chase Il Duce away, the three men suffer serious wounds, including the loss of Rocco's finger. The three return to a safehouse where they treat their wounds.

Hours later as the police conduct an investigation at the crime scene, the investigation seems futile since the twin brothers have covered their tracks by spraying any blood left behind with ammonia. However, Smecker happens upon the part of the finger lost by Rocco and decides to do an independent investigation to see who was behind the gun battle. Smecker is able to track the evidence down to Rocco and his two allies. This leaves Smecker in a difficult scenario, and struggles with the choice of whether to prosecute the three men, or join them in their cause, as Smecker believes they are doing the right thing. After getting drunk at a gay bar and subsequently getting advice from a reluctant priest, Smecker decides to help the trio.

Later, the twin brothers and Rocco inform Smecker that they plan to infiltrate the Yakavetta headquarters to finish off the family, but Smecker learns they are walking into a trap. The twin brothers are captured and beaten by four capos working for the Yakavetta family, and Rocco is shot and killed by Papa Joe, but the twin brothers are able to free themselves, with Murphy stabbing to death one of the capos. As Papa Joe leaves his house, Smecker arrives in drag and shoots and kills two of the capos before being knocked unconscious by Il Duce, who has snuck into the Yakavetta house and fatally slashed the throat of the fourth and final capo. As the twin brothers say their family prayer over Rocco, Il Duce enters the room and prepares to open fire. However, he instead finishes the prayer – revealing he is the twin brothers' father and decides to join his twin sons in their mission.

Three months later, Papa Joe is sent to trial for a third time. However, the reporters on-scene anticipate his acquittal. The twin brothers and Il Duce, aided by Smecker, Dolly, Duffy and Greenly, infiltrate the trial after sliding their weapons over the metal detector. Unmasked, Connor and Murphy make a speech stating that they intend to eradicate evil wherever they find it before the twin brothers and their father recite their family prayer and execute Papa Joe, much to the horror of the people in the courtroom. The media dubs the MacManus family of three as "the Saints".