Portal:Film/Selected article/54
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The Boondock Saints is a 1999 action crime drama film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as fraternal twins Connor and Murphy MacManus, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian mob in self-defense. After a message from God, the brothers, together with their friend David Della Rocco, set out to rid their home city of Boston of evil. Meanwhile, they are pursued by FBI agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe). Duffy indicates the screenplay was inspired by personal experience, while living in Los Angeles. The film experienced a limited theatrical release of only five theaters for one week, and was met with poor critical reviews. Nevertheless, it proved divisive among viewers, developing both a large cult following, as well as enmity from viewers and critics who have called it a film undeserving of cult status. The film's cult following was mostly due to the efforts of Blockbuster Video, which made the film a "Blockbuster Exclusive." The ending credit sequence, which features the media asking the people of Boston, "Are the "saints" good or evil", was shot by Mark Brian Smith, co-director of Overnight, a documentary film about the making of The Boondock Saints, and Troy Duffy himself.
