The Boondock Saints

Few movies have had the same troubles that Troy Duffys The Boondock Saints
has had. From the roller coaster ride of casting stars and studios dropping and picking up
the film, The Boondock Saints has had all kinds of problems from start to finish. However
the largest problem they incurred was one they were not even involved in. When the
tragedy at Columbine occurred, everyone began to blame Hollywood. The result was
studios staying far away from violent pictures, and putting the ones they had already
made on the back burner. However, after all of the tribulations the final product became a
fine film, with interests for a sequel.
The film is about a pair of fraternal Irish twins and is set in Boston. During the
festivities for St. Patricks Day at their local bar they learn of a plan by the local Russian
mafia to force the owner to sell the bar to them. Soon the mobsters themselves enter the
bar and start a fight, which they lose. Having their egos torn, the mobsters find the twins
place of living and attack them. With divine help, the twins kill the mobsters, and soon
the FBI is on their tail. One of the films great features is the way in which it is told, where
time and space are fragmented. The viewer sees the results of each crime incident before
they actually see how it happens. This is done by having the FBI agent reenact the twins
crimes and then cuts to them actually performing the crimes. It makes for a very
interesting story and narrative. After surviving retribution from the mobsters, the twins
turn themselves in and then are released; as the police can find no evidence the acts were
not committed in self defense. The twins are haled as heroes by the local community.
Without hesitation they decide to continue their vigilantism. With a pager they stole off
one of the Russians, they learn of a gathering of mobsters and decide this will be their
next target. The story continues in this fashion. All the while the twins recite prayers in

Latin and hint at their divine influence, and the public continues to not display outrage at
their actions. The story is told very well, and the direction of the film is done very
professionally, especially for a first time director. Indeed Troy Duffys writing and
directorial debut was very impressive. However with all it took to make this movie I can
understand why he must have strived for perfection.
One day Troy Duffy was a bartender working at Hollywoods J. Sloans bar, the
next he was Hollywoods hot new talent. After saving his money and renting a computer
for $150 a week, he wrote the script for The Boondock Saints (Snead). Although many
may write a screenplay that could become a good movie, Troy had an advantage. He had
a long time friend who worked at New Line Cinema, who in turn passed it along to
Miramax co-chairs Harvey and Bob Weinstein. They read it and bought the script for
$450,000. $300,000 for the screenplay and $150,000 for directors fees, gave Duffy full
cast approval authority and a $15 million budget (Waxman), and even signed Duffys
band The Brood to do the soundtrack (Moorehead). The top talent agency in
Hollywood, William Morris signed not only Duffy but his band as well (Snead).
Paramount then signed Duffy to write two more scripts for $500,000. Miramax also
promised to buy the bar where Duffy worked for him (Goldstein). Duffy was the talk of
Hollywood, and soon everyone wanted to be in his movie. Stars such as Brad Pitt, Matt
Damon, Ewen McGregor, Mark Wahlberg, Jon Bon Jovi (Goldstein), Brendan Frasier and
Jim Carrey had shown considerable interest in the film (Waxman). As Sharon Waxman
put it in a Washington Post interview Just about every young, up-and-coming Romeowith-day-old-stubble has been considered for two choice parts in The Boondock Saints.
However, things went downhill form there. There were disputes over who to cast
as one of the three main characters, the homosexual FBI Agent. Miramax showed interest
in casting Bill Murray, Sylvester Stalone, or Mike Meyers, who all have a relationship

with the Studio. Duffy wanted Patrick Swayze (Waxman). However once the initial deal
was signed, Duffy had trouble getting return calls from Harvey Weinstein. Duffy says in a
Los Angeles Times Interview with Patrick Goldstein There were long expanses of time
when I couldnt even get Harvey on the phone. I shot 12 pages of the script as a test, sent
it to Harvey and never heard from him. All he cared about was getting a big name in the
movie, even if they were wrong for the role. Goldstein goes on to say Weinstein
wouldnt comment on his dealings with Duffy, which Miramax critics say is just the most
recent example of the companys penchant for making headlines with a splashy deal but
later abandoning the project.
After the project was abandoned by Miramax it was picked up by an
independent company, Franchise Pictures. The key role of the homosexual FBI agent on
the brothers trail was finally given to William Dafoe. The main roles of the twin brothers
were given to Sean Patrick Flannery and Jon Bon Jovi, who later left and was replaced by
Norman Reedus, who had been interested in the project earlier, but left because a deal
could not get signed. The former budget of $15 million was cut to $10 then $5.5 million.
The bonding company that was insuring the film made Duffy cut 20 pages from the
script. Filming took place in Toronto and in the stories location of Boston for thirty-one
days in the summer of 1998 (Waxman).
Then the tragedy at Columbine struck, and every one from Los Angeles to
Washington, D.C. was pointing their fingers at Hollywood and their violent movies as the
cause. In the aftermath, no one would touch Duffys script about a pair of vigilante
brothers shooting their way through the ranks of the mafia in Boston with a ten foot pole.
The first version of the film was given an NC-17 rating for violence. Duffy appealed the
ruling, lost and was forced to edit it to an R (Waxman).Even the end credits feature a man
talking about putting on a trench coat and joining the brothers. An eerie coincidence as

the attackers at Columbine wore trench coats and called them-selves the Trench Coat
Mafia. As Sharon Waxman writes The much-anticipated film had become, overnight, a
political leper. It was now almost impossible for Duffy to secure the distribution rights
to the film. Major studios including Miramax, Artisan, New Line, October, and Trimark
refused. Waxman states All the major studios saw it, too, but everyone in the industry
knew the film would not be bought.
While the debate about real violence and its effect, if any, on real violence in
todays society may go on for a long time, Troy Duffy summarizes his sides point of
view fairly well in a Washington Post interview in which he was asked what effect his
film night have on young minds. Ive been worried about that from the beginning. But I
say this: I cannot live my life worrying about what some psychopath is going to do. If
someone is going to do something like that, theyll do it no matter what. Those kids at
Columbine had a fucking problem. Id like to talk to their parents. (Waxman)
Then, when things almost couldnt get any worse, they did. Probably the films last
shot at reviving interest in Hollywood was at the Sundance film festival, an independent
film festival know for attracting the top dogs of the movie industry. Duffy had been told
by his agency that Boondock Saints had been selected for the festival. However a week
before the festival he learned that it would not be included, with no explanation
(Waxman).
The bank that financed the movie turned down a low offer from Lions Gate to
distribute the film. Then a piece of good news did surface. Blockbuster had bought the
exclusive rights for the video release for $100,000. However Boondock Saints was still
far from being released. So Duffy and Co-Producer Chris Brinker borrowed money from
their families to release the film in five cities on their own (Waxman). Then they received
word from the bank that exclusive TV rights had been sold to the USA network, which

prohibited them from releasing the film in theatres. However Duffy and Brinker did
negotiate with USA and Blockbuster to allow for a limited theatrical release with Indican
Films as the distributor. The film was then released in Los Angles, New York and Boston
to decent critical reviews. It has generated enough buzz that a sequel is already in the
works (Frankel).
Researching this movie has given me a greater understanding of the movie
making process and the turmoils a writer and director must go through, especially one
new to the scene such as Duffy. From writing the script, selling it, casting actors,
financing and finding locations, nailing down distributors and video rights, I had never
realized how arduous a process creating a movie was. I have also heard a side of the
argument about violence in movies. Indeed, a convincing argument can be made that
violence in movies is a reflection of the society which it seeks to mimic. It can also be
said that people who perform such grievous acts of violence against others have much
deeper reasons for committing these acts than because they watched a violent movie and
were inspired. Indeed lack of parental involvement may be the true reason, and it may
be different for every case. Nonetheless, researching this movie gave me a respect for that
as well as respect for the determination of the creator, Troy Duffy, and his seemingly
never ending struggle to get the movie into the theatres and onto the shelves.

Works Cited

Frankel, Daniel. Blockbuster Eyes Saints Sequel. Video Business 25 Mar. 2002: pg 7

Goldstein, Patrick. Back Behind the Bar; Movies: Troy Duffy, A Young, Brash Writer
as Fast With Fists as He is With Words, Collides Head-On With Hollywoods
Fickle Nature. Los Angeles Times 13 Apr. 1998: F1

Moorhead, M.V. God Made Them Do It; Bizarre and Illogical, The Boondock Saints
Is Still Entertaining as Hell. New Times 20 Jan. 2000: Movies

Snead, Elizabeth. A Rags-to-Riches Tale Right out of Hollywood; Miramax Deal Means
Big Bucks for Bartender. USA Today 16 Apr. 1997: 8D

Waxman, Sharon. The Two Faces of Hollywood; A Screenwriters Success Story Had
a Happy Ending. Then Someone Changed the Script. Washington Post 10 Apr.
1998: B1

Waxman, Sharon. The Long, Long Intermission; How Director Troy Duffys Hot Film
Got Too Hot to Touch. Washington Post 26 Jan. 2000: C1