The Boondock Saints may have taken its fair share of inspiration from other hit crime movies, but director Troy Duffy has revealed one of his star’s shocked reactions to a later movie’s striking similarities. Following the story of Irish twins and vigilantes Connor and Murphy MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus), Duffy has previously revealed that his debut film drew a great deal of inspiration from Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Impressed with Tarantino’s use of unconventional flashbacks, he intentionally used a similar approach for Willem Dafoe’s FBI agent Paul Smecker.
However, during an interview with Screen Rant for the movie’s 25th anniversary, Duffy also revealed that Billy Connolly called him in shock upon learning that Guy Ritchie appeared to appropriate one of Duffy’s scenes for Snatch. During Duffy’s film, Connolly’s legendary hitman, known as “Il Duce”, confronts the twins prior to learning of their identities as his own children, sweeping open his coat to reveal several pistols strapped to his chest that he subsequently uses.
Similarly, the opening sequence of Snatch shows Benicio Del Toro’s Franky Four-Fingers robbing a diamond exchange disguised as a rabbi. Once inside the exchange, Del Toro’s character opens his own jacket to reveal a similar array of weapons, which are then grabbed by his fellow gang members. Recalling that Connolly called him from the red carpet of Lemony Snicket, the comedian bluntly told him that “they f-ed us,” referencing Richie’s movie, while the director mused that filmmakers “rip each other off all the time” though he likes to put his own spin on the material he appropriates. Check out his comments below:
People rip each other off and don’t even…I admit it, but I think I’m rare.
Billy Connolly calls me up one day — he’s on a red carpet for this thing he did, Lemony Snicket — and he’s like, “Dear boy, they f-ed us.” I’m like, “Who f-ed us?” He goes, “They ripped us off.” I’m like, “What?” and he’s like, “Snatch. Guy Richie.”
I go rent the thing. I put it in. I’m watching, watching, watching. I don’t see anything. Then, 15 minutes in, this guy pulls open a jacket. He’s got guns on like Billy’s character in Boondock. I was like, Oh, motherf***er.”
But you’re not going to see Guy Richie giving me credit for that. We rip each other off all the time. I have no conscience about it. I am a thief here and there, but at least [I] put my own spin on it.
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Despite being lambasted by critics at the time of its original release, The Boondock Saints would quickly become a cult favorite following its home video release. Where critics would largely accuse Duffy of attempting to mimic Tarantino without the benefit of his more refined approach to storytelling, audiences would later come to latch onto the movie’s stylistic approach and violent content with much enthusiasm.
While it is unclear whether Ritchie’s scene with Franky Four-Fingers is indeed a direct homage to
Boondock Saints
, or a coincidental overlap, the similarities are hard to ignore.
Boasting healthy home video sales and a passionate fanbase, interest in the original film was not only enough to justify Duffy’s return for 2009’s belated sequel, but plans for Boondock Saints 3 have already been announced, albeit without Duffy’s direct involvement. As such, it would be easy to see why other filmmakers working in the genre, such as Ritchie, would be likely to turn to Duffy’s movie as a source of inspiration.
While it is unclear whether Ritchie’s scene with Franky Four-Fingers is indeed a direct homage to Boondock Saints, or a coincidental overlap, the similarities are hard to ignore. However, given Snatch’s own position in the pantheon of crime movies that emerged during the 1990s and early 2000s, the similarities can only serve to reflect more positively on Duffy’s film.
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When viewed side-by-side, there are indeed some striking similarities between the two scenes. However, The Boondock Saints is by no means unique in having its characters hide a veritable arsenal underneath a heavy overcoat. Even prior to the movie’s release, another similar scene was featured in The Matrix, when Keanu Reeves’ Neo enters a heavily protected lobby with his own collection of guns strapped to his body.
As one of the biggest and most influential movie releases of 1999, many viewers even assumed that Duffy’s scene was itself a direct homage to that which had previously been devised by the Wachowski sisters. Much like Duffy acknowledges, filmmakers will consciously, or even unwittingly, borrow elements from their peers’ work all the time, and even the Wachowskis likely appropriated that scene from earlier works too.
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As such, it would be folly to be overly critical of Ritchie for his use of the trope. Instead, reflecting on the similarities between Snatch and The Boondock Saints should serve more as an example of the often vibrant and exciting cross-pollination of themes and imagery that came out of their shared genre at the time.
After brothers Connor and Murphy kill two Russian mobsters in self-defense, they set out on a vigilante mission to rid Boston of crime and violence. However, an FBI agent is hot on their trail.
- Director
- Troy Duffy
- Release Date
- January 22, 1999
- Studio(s)
- 20th Century
- Distributor(s)
- 20th Century
- Writers
- Troy Duffy
- Runtime
- 108 minutes
- Budget
- $6 million