The Boondock Saints director Troy Duffy gleefully admits that he ripped off Quentin Tarantino for the Willem Dafoe scenes. Written and directed by Duffy in his feature debut, the 1999 film follows Irish twin brothers who turn into vigilantes after killing two Russian mobsters in self-defense and, following a shared epiphany, the brothers embark on a mission to cleanse Boston of its criminal underworld in the name of God, all while being tracked by an FBI Agent. The movie stars Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, David Della Rocco, and Billy Connolly.
During an exclusive interview with Screen Rant for the film’s 25th anniversary, Troy Duffy gleefully admitted that he ripped off Quentin Tarantino for the Willem Dafoe scenes in The Boondock Saints. Duffy admired how Tarantino used nontraditional flashbacks in Reservoir Dogs and decided to “rip him off” by adopting a similar approach, but with his own personal spin. Read his full comments below:
In Reservoir Dogs, they went through that extensive flashback sequence where Tim [Roth] wrote the script of the story he was going to tell to the mobsters, and then he’s in the bathroom explaining it right in front of the barking dogs. I realized the usual experience an audience would have in a flashback was this lazy [connection from] A to B to C. When I saw Tarantino do that, I’m like, “My God, you can do anything. That’s a whole new way to tell a story, not just connect the dots.” So I decided, “I’m going to rip him off,” but whenever I do that, I have to do it in my own way.
The Director Admits He Ripped Off Tarantino For Certain Scenes
The debate regarding Troy Duffy ripping off Quentin Tarantino movies for The Boondock Saints has been raging for nearly 25 years since the film’s release. At the time, the movie was excoriated by critics, indicated by its 26% Rotten Tomatoes score, for attempting to imitate the worst tendencies of Tarantino’s style, especially his earlier works such as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. This includes his use of nonlinear narratives, but also his propensity for stylized violence and pop-culture-laden dialogue.
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This movie took a half-baked idea and executed it so poorly that the end result is almost unwatchable. This is a cinematic disaster.
Tarantino is known for his nonlinear narratives, especially in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, and The Boondock Saints adopts a similar approach by using flashbacks to show how certain events unfold, particularly in scenes where the two brothers carry out their vigilante killings. The aftermath of the crimes is often shown before the event itself, mimicking the disjointed storytelling approach that Tarantino popularized. While Duffy admits to ripping off this aspect of his signature style, he doesn’t acknowledge his similar use of stylized violence or other imitations of Tarantino’s style.
Our Take On The Boondock Saints Ripping Off Tarantino
It’s The Film’s Major Flaw
Duffy’s own admission of ripping off Tarantino highlights the film’s major flaw – it feels like a shallow copy rather than a creative homage.
While The Boondock Saints surely has its own cult following, it does borrow heavily from Tarantino’s style without adding anything particularly new or original. It imitates his nonlinear narratives, stylized violence, anti-hero characters, and dialogue, but often without the same level of sophistication or depth that makes Tarantino’s films so effective. Duffy’s own admission of ripping off Tarantino highlights the film’s major flaw – it feels like a shallow copy rather than a creative homage.
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
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Troy Duffy
- Release Date
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January 22, 1999
- Studio(s)
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20th Century
- Distributor(s)
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20th Century
- Writers
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Troy Duffy
- Runtime
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108 minutes
- Budget
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$6 million
