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Essay on The Boondock Saints
Irish fraternal brothers are on a killing spree inspired by their love of God. This somewhat sadistic premise is the inspiration for "The Boondock Saints," written and directed by Hollywood newcomer Troy Duffy. The juxtaposition of religious morals and senseless violence provides the basis for the film's somewhat convoluted and often nonsensical plot.
The film begins with the two brothers (played by Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus) kissing the feet of a statue in a church.
They then proceed to engage in a bar room brawl that ends in the deaths of two Russians. Their alternating good and bad-guy behavior continues throughout the film, leaving the audience confused about the motivations behind the brothers' actions. The brothers' vacillation between good and evil could provide material for complex characters. Instead, there is no real sense of the characters or any reasoning behind their actions. (Waxman, 2000)
While the brothers continue on the killing spree, an oddball detective (Willem Dafoe) is busy tracking the murders. The subplots do not fully relate to each other, partly because of the the unclear motivations of the characters. What is left is a somewhat puzzling story, which is never clear in its story or message. The one saving grace of the film is Dafoe's performance as the unusual Paul Smecker. His left-of-the-middle police techniques provide some comic humor in an otherwise unhumorous story line. While his character's strange nature is never fully explained, his antics at least offer pure comic value.Dafoe's performance, however, cannot save "The Boondock Saints".
The film's broken story and characterization leave an unclear message with the audience. The motivation behind the film and the characters is never revealed thus making "The Boondock Saints" too distorted to enjoy.
Even though it does, at times, appear to be a cross....
