The Boondock Saints (1999)

$52,000. That’s the entire domestic gross of The Boondock Saints, and yet 264,593 IMDb voters have found it since and rated it a 7.6. It’s easy to see why, and just as easy to see why critics gave it 26%. Troy Duffy shoots two Irish brothers playing vigilante like a guy who heard about Tarantino secondhand and bought a slow-motion button. Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus have real brotherly chemistry, bickering mid-plan like they’re splitting a cab fare. Then there’s Willem Dafoe. His FBI agent walks through crime scenes like he’s conducting an orchestra, classical music in his headphones, and he’s the best reason to watch. The trouble is that the film thinks its heroes are actual saints, never asks a single hard question, and mistakes yelling for wit. David Della Rocco is great fun as Rocco anyway. A 4.4 because Dafoe is a blast and the movie believes its own legend. $111.49 says you try to finish a sibling’s sentences this week and get the ending wrong.

What works: Willem Dafoe’s flamboyant FBI agent is a blast, and the two brothers have easy, believable chemistry.

What doesn’t: The script never questions its vigilante heroes, and most of the humor is just characters shouting over each other.

Who it’s for: Fans of stylish late-nineties crime movies who can quote their favorites and don’t need them to be deep.