The Boondock Saints
Short description
The Boondock Saints follows Conner and Murphy MacManus, Irish Catholic twin brothers living in Boston who come to believe they have been chosen to rid their city of crime. After a violent encounter with mobsters leaves two men dead, FBI agent Paul Smecker investigates the killings and finds the brothers acted in self-defense, letting them go. Rather than stop, Conner and Murphy begin hunting down gangsters one by one, drawing attention from both the underworld and the public.
Troy Duffy wrote and directed the film, his first feature and the first of two films he has directed. Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus play the twins, with Willem Dafoe as Smecker, David Della Rocco as Rocco and Billy Connolly as Il Duce. The production had a budget of 6 million US dollars.
The film was released in 1999 and runs 108 minutes. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.6 from around 262,000 votes, while on TMDB it has a 7.2 from roughly 2,810 votes. The audience scores contrast with the critics' rating of 4.8 from 31 reviews, which is considerably lower. That gap suggests the film found a durable audience despite a poor critical showing on release.
What's left behind the scenes
- The giant wooden crucifix in the opening scene was actually made of styrofoam and then painted to look like wood.
- During the shootout with the brothers, Il Duce uses six pistols: the first two – Beretta 92S and 80 series Springfield 1911, revolvers – Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum, and the last two – Colt 70.
- The aria playing during the investigation of the murder of the two Russians is from Puccini's opera 'La Boheme'. The aria is titled 'Si, mi chiamano Mimi'.
- The film's title is identical to the name of Troy Duffy's band (writer and director).
- In ‘Sin Bin’, Connor, addressing one of the victims, says, ‘I’ve been waiting for him.’ This comment was intended to refer to a deleted scene in the hospital, where Murphy and Connor see a pimp beating a prostitute. The last victim in this establishment is a drug dealer, who is also the subject of one of the deleted scenes.
- "Boondock" translates from English as "slums," and the film's action itself takes place in Boston.
- Kevin Spacey was the original choice of the filmmakers for the role of Paul Smeker.
- Filming took 32 days.
- Originally, Annabella McManus (the brothers’ mother) was supposed to appear in the film. But all scenes with her were removed. We were also meant to hear her voiceover in some scenes.
- The church where Connor and Murphy attend liturgy is Protestant, not Catholic. None of the Catholic churches contacted by the filmmakers gave permission to film inside the building due to the film's plot.
- Detective Dolly’s full name is Dollapoppascalios.
- Various roles in the film could have been played by Patrick Swayze, Stephen Dorff, and Robert De Niro.
- Troy Duffy and almost all of his band can be spotted in the scene in the Irish pub.
- Initially, Il Duce was supposed to be called Darkman.
- The film's release was significantly delayed due to the school shooting at Columbine High School.
- The character ‘David Della Rocco’ is named exactly like the actor who played him. This role was specifically written for Rocco.
- Prison number Il Duce, 6570534, is an old phone number belonging to Troy Duffy.
- The tattoos on the brothers' arms, translated from Latin, mean: "Veritas" - truth, "Aequitas" - justice.
- The word “fuck” is uttered 246 times in the film.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
