Tarantino imitation, number 4,173 and
counting...
Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus play two
supposedly religious guys who roam the streets
of Boston feeling it is their God-given right to
cleanse the city of crime by any means
necessary. Willem Dafoe is the openly gay FBI
agent who pursues them from crime scene to crime
scene.
This film has acquired a minor cult following
over the last year or so, primarily with the
younger male demographic that is incapable of
seeing the difference between brilliant colorful
writing, ala Tarantino's work, and films that
have every character saying the word 'fuck' in
every sentence. This is one of those movies that
you will love if you are younger than 25 and
have seen less than 400 films in your life, but
that you will be bored by when you are 40 and
have seen 2000 films, including all the
classics.
It seems like every other character in this film
is a member of a Russian Crime Syndicate and is
afflicted with one of the worst accents you'll
ever hear in a movie. 'Boondock Saints' is one
of those films that is almost a decade late in
its idolatry of Quentin Tarantino. It is
influenced heavily by 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp
Fiction'... both of which are great films to
emulate. But it has been done so much over the
last 7 or 8 years, that this film feels
extremely passé. This film has the pre-requisite
slow-motion action sequences with bodies flying
through glass windows and guns recoiling as they
pump more bullets into yet another Russian mob
underling. There are all the usual MTV camera
angles and 360 degree pans of the camera... all
very tired techniques by now. This film is one
long yawn-fest with a been-there-done-that feel.
There are tons of movies made each year that are
obsessed with being 'cool' rather than being
good... This is definitely one of those.
"Boondock Saints' may have been more successful
if it had been released in 1988, when it would
have been ahead of its time. As it stands, the
film had a very limited release in theatres and
then hit video stores a month later. Word of
mouth between teenage boys and early
twenty-something men has made this a minor cult
hit. However, if you are not in that
demographic, I suggest you ignore the minimal
hype and watch something else instead.
At its core, this is a morally bankrupt film
about two vigilante men who have no respect for
the law, and kill indiscriminately because they
feel they have the right to play God. In
actuality, they should both be sent to the
electric chair. But this film glamorizes their
cause, and I definitely can't recommend a film
that does that.
©
Written by TC Candler
Richard
Propes' Comment
Remember TC's
phrase "popcorn action flick?" This is a popcorn
action flick that I actually rather enjoyed.
That's all the more amazing considering the
incredible over-use of the "F" word (which
normally bothers me). This is silly,
over-the-top fluff made all the more
entertaining by the realization that the
filmmaker himself disintegrated into moral
bankruptcy while making this film.
Jacob
Hall's Comment
N/A
