The Boondock Saints (1999)

Directed by Troy Duffy. Starring Sean Patrick Flannery, Norman Reedus, Willem Dafoe, David Della Rocco, Bob Marley, David Ferry, Billy Connolly, Richard Fitzpatrick, Ron Jeremy, Carlo Rota, Tom Barnett, Brian Mahoney, Carmen DiStefano, Gerard Parkes. [R]

After killing some Mafia goons in self-defense, the none-too-bright Boston hooligan McManus brothers (Flannery, Reedus) believe that God has called on them to cleanse the town of scum, and decide to go on a vigilante killing spree, FBI agent Dafoe in halfhearted pursuit. An ugly, amateurish crime thriller that tries too hard to be hip and stylish, winds up excruciatingly repetitive and pretentious. The banter among the anti-heroes—which also includes skeevy old friend from the neighborhood (turned mob flunkie) Rocco—is forced and unamusing; it doesn’t help that the Irish-American lads garble their words through such strained accents that they sound like leprechauns with a two-pack-a-day habit. Little more than a series of bloody shootouts and executions strung together by gratuitous four-letter-words, and first-time writer/director Duffy shows no evidence of possessing the instincts or talent to make any of it work (the excessive use of slow-motion during the action scenes is particularly tiresome). In fact, the behind-the-scenes details of his self-derailing abrasive arrogance (captured in the documentary Overnight) is more fascinating than anything that ended up onscreen here. Followed a decade later by a sequel, the only other movie Duffy has directed to date.

21/100