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The Boondock Saints. By Troy Duffy. Los Angeles, CA: Indican Pictures, 1999, 110 min.
The Boondock Saints is the story of two Irish brothers, Connor and Murphy MacManus, who live in Boston, eking out a living in a meat-packing plant. When they accidentally become entangled with the Russian mafia, who are moving in on the brothers' predominantly Irish neighborhood, Connor and Murphy end up killing two mobsters in self-defense. Devoutly Catholic and committed to their belief in Veritas (truth) and aequitas (justice), they turn themselves in to the police and are released as heroes. The plot takes an unexpected turn when the brothers take this as a sign that they are being called by God to embark on a mission to rid the EARTH of evil men. Their subsequent murders of gangsters and other criminals are followed with fascination by the public, the Boston police department, and tireless FBI agent Paul Smecker, who is leading the investigation.
The film unfolds as a commentary on the ambiguity between right and wrong, weighing the cost of the deeds of evil men against the cost of the indifference of good men. The viewer finds himself conflicted. The brothers' purposeful execution of murder after murder is offset by their choice of victims, calling forth one's deepest forbidden fantasies of aggression and righteousness. This is most poignantly depicted in the aftermath of each killing, as Connor and Murphy pray over each victim and place pennies over the eyes of the dead. As the viewer strains to reconcile the MacManus brothers' methodical violence with their obvious contrition and commitment to the protection of society, Agent Smecker plays out this moral struggle in his quest to put all of the pieces together in his investigation.
There are several aspects of leadership evident in this screenplay, some of which model what a leader should do and some that serve as warnings of what can happen when leaders lose their objective stance. The most obvious leadership role in this film is depicted by the MacManus brothers. Although the content of their endeavor is, admittedly, morally objectionable, the overarching function of these characters is to model for the group (as represented by society at large) the necessity of risk-taking in beginning to take the initiative...