The Boondock Saints

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The Boondock Saints

R

Released Aug 4, 1999

1h 50m

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

26%

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31 Reviews

91%

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250,000+ Ratings

Tired of the crime overrunning the streets of Boston, Irish Catholic twin brothers Conner (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) are inspired by their faith to cleanse their hometown of evil with their own brand of zealous vigilante justice. As they hunt down and kill one notorious gangster after another, they become controversial folk heroes in the community. But Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe), an eccentric FBI agent, is fast closing in on their blood-soaked trail.

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Critics Consensus

A juvenile, ugly movie that represents the worst tendencies of directors channeling Tarantino.

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

A macho bloodbath with a lot of juvenile humor and fake Catholic mysticism...

Jul 14, 2022

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Nathan Rabin

AV Club

Satire or self-parody would be vastly preferable to the film's unironic endorsement of outlaw justice, but you'd be hard pressed to find anything resembling irony or subversiveness in this exercise in lovingly rendered ultra-violence.

Jul 26, 2011

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

[A] dim-witted, aesthetically clunky Tarantino clone.

Rated: C-

Oct 23, 2009

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

The entire production feels uneven, shoddy, and offensively oxymoronic.

Rated: 0.5/4

Aug 30, 2023

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

An enthralling gangster epic, a solid action film, and a jolting vigilante-justice crime caper.

Rated: 7/10

Sep 10, 2020

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Ed Travis

Hollywood Jesus

The Boondock Saints, on one level, is a really great direct-to-video cult film. Stylish, defiantly endearing, and even borderline iconic.

Apr 10, 2020

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Audience Member

It’s a great time, and you get to watch the scum of the earth suffer. What’s better than that? To be fair, this film is filled to the brim with testosterone. So it does feel like a bit much at times, not even Clint Eastwood was as pretentious as this. My first point still stands. 4/5 stars.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/24/25

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Will S

Loved this. Easy to watch and easy to enjoy. Great craic.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/23/25

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Zantaeus F

"And Shepards we shall ever be For thee, my Lord. For thee" This movie gets better with every scene and Willem Dafoe once more shows why he is a method actor among the highest caliber. Part 2 is just as good and goes in depth on the family past with a "killer ending".

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/21/25

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Lance D

Unknown forces guide innocents' lives to be judged by random callamity. The absurd resolve undertaken to correct such actions and the judgement that it comes with, usually. Great characters, a comedy of errors, a fine film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/20/25

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Audience Member

While some call this movie juvenile- its Irish themed heroes who take down bad mob bosses and those who do wrong does this movie great. Willem Dafoe playing Smecker provides kinda of an enticing edge to this movie that just feels great. Plus- he impersonates a woman to take out some of Pappa Joe Yakavetta's goons during the part of the movie and does the part well. Plus- David Della Rocco's performance as the beloved Rocco does this movie well in its own right and you have to admit- the parts where the Saints take out the mob bosses and villians kinda makes you wish that this would have been a future Grand Theft Auto game title from Rockstar Games. It is that good. 4/5 stars for this one- and instead of calling this movie "juvenile"- let's call it a guilty pleasure- especially if you're Irish at heart.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/19/25

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Mark U

Maybe one of the best, worst movies I have seen? I dunno what to think. As ridiculous as most of the movie was, it was entertaining. Willem Dafoe's character was so wonderfully weird, please see it just to watch his performance. He is at his crazy best. Billy Connelly and David Della are horrible, in a good way. The script is bad, the production value is bad, the direction is bad. Watch it. please.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/08/25

Full Review

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Troy Duffy

Director

Willem Dafoe

Paul Smecker

Sean Patrick Flanery

Connor MacManus

Norman Reedus

Murphy MacManus

David Della Rocco

David Della 'Roc

Billy Connolly

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Synopsis

Tired of the crime overrunning the streets of Boston, Irish Catholic twin brothers Conner (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) are inspired by their faith to cleanse their hometown of evil with their own brand of zealous vigilante justice. As they hunt down and kill one notorious gangster after another, they become controversial folk heroes in the community. But Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe), an eccentric FBI agent, is fast closing in on their blood-soaked trail.

Director: Troy Duffy
Producer: Chris Brinker, Robert N. Fried, Elie Samaha, Lloyd Segan
Screenwriter: Troy Duffy
Distributor: New City Releasing [us], Indican Pictures
Production Co: Chris Brinker Productions, B.D.S. Productions Inc, Franchise Pictures, The Lloyd Segan Company, Fried Films, Brood Syndicate
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 4, 1999, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $33.7K
Runtime: 1h 50m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby

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