'Saints' looks for respect as Columbine fades

The Boondock Saints -- R
Starring: Norman Reedus, Willem Dafoe
Directed by: Troy Duffy First time director Troy Duffy says in the "The Boondock Saints" DVD commentary that he was "sick of not getting my eight-bucks worth at the movies." For this reason he decided to write and direct what turned out to be one of the most original and entertaining movies of the past few years. And since you probably didn't have a chance to spend eight bucks in the theater, due to the fact it was blacklisted from many theaters after being released two weeks after Columbine made news. The DVD is finally being released in the United States and is jam-packed with extras. The film centers on the McManus brothers (Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus) and the way the two play judge and jury for the evil and corrupt by taking capital punishment into their own hands. The wicked are struck down by the two brothers as FBI detective Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) puts the pieces together to find out who these vigilantes are. The way Duffy dissects the scenes -- by using Dafoe to tell the story before the audience actually sees it -- is rather creative, and the moral lesson about capital punishment and God's wrath will give you a great intro to a religious and political debate with your friends. The DVD has a great commentary track with Duffy and some really interesting deleted scenes. The commentary is one of the best on any film and really goes in-depth to show how much of Duffy's heart and soul went into this former bartender's independent film. It's good to hear someone be grateful for the "cult-status" his film has received. Also it's great to listen to a guy who just really, really likes the movie he created. About half of the deleted scenes are just longer versions of scenes Duffy cut down for the MPAA to achieve an R rating. The other half are pretty funny additions that didn't need to be in the film, including a hilarious conversation with the boys' drunk mother and the manly-lesbian fight scene drawn out to make more sense of why the slaughterhouse battle started. Overall, "The Boondock Saints" is a great film that is not as well known because it ran into some uncontrollable timing problems. Now that the DVD has been released, maybe it will get the recognition it deserves.