Photos and video: Dallas premiere of Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

by John P. Meyer

Welcome reception for Boondock Saints II at the Angelika Dallas

(Click photo to see entire gallery)

More fans get in on the act.

Things turned out heavenly on Thursday night at the Angelika Dallas, with the arrival of three principals from the new movie Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. More importantly, a horde of enthusiastic Saints fans turned out to cheer on the long-awaited further exploits of the death-dealing MacManus brothers.

A bit of background: The original Boondock Saints (1999) scored big with home video fans, achieving a large cult following while simultaneously stirring up a lot of controversy due both to its (arguably) gratuitous violence, and to the famously documented behavior of its director, Troy Duffy.

After 10 years and a couple of legal battles involving rights to the material, the long-planned sequel is finally now hitting (get it?) a number of local theaters. (As Duffy explained it, the movie is currently in the "platforming" process: If it sells tickets, it will widen its theater coverage.)

We'll post a review of the movie on Monday, including a video interview with director Duffy and star Norman Reedus. (HINT: If you like beautifully orchestrated gunfights à la John Woo -- or if you're a fan of the original Boondock Saints -- you will definitely want to see Saints II.)

The crowd of invited attendees grew so large that a higher-capacity theater than originally planned had to be utilized for the Thursday night preview screening. By the time actors Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus arrived, with director/writer Troy Duffy in tow, there were well over 300 eager movie watchers waiting to cram into the venue.

(Before all was said and done, folding chairs were brought into play to allow as many people into the screening as possible.)

BUT FIRST, there was a surprise waiting for the Saints-ers in the Angelika upstairs lobby. Two lovely ladies had been body painted, sporting designs reminiscent of the film. Jessica (shorter) and Jennifer (taller) made an immediate impression on Sean and Norman, who alternately mugged and posed and snapped pictures with their phones. (Credit local artist Amy Walker for the body painting.)

Following the movie, just shy of two hours in length, the boys (Troy, Sean, and Norman) hung around for a brief Q-and-A. They then decamped to Trinity Hall, just a few steps distant from the theater, for a bit o' the Irish. (Whiskey, that is.) A hundred or so avid fans (of movies and/or drinking) trailed along.

Notable comments from director/writer Duffy:

* The idea for the original script stemmed from criminal activity he witnessed near his home. He got mad; he picked up a pen.

* "That drag thing: He wanted to do that." (re. the Willem Dafoe character in the original film)

* "There's definitely a possibility of a three." (i.e., Boondock Saints III)

* Nearly all of the original cast returned for part two of the Saints -- evidence that perhaps the director's documented abusiveness was less of a factor than depicted in the Overnight film.

* Both pictures were made in Toronto; the first cost $6 million, the second about $8 million.

The hilarious highlight of the evening came when Flanery speed-dialed actor Billy Connolly (who plays the patriarch of the murderous MacManus clan) to see if he would be so kind as to take a question from the audience. Connolly wasn't home, but when Flanery put his phone on speaker and we all heard the outrageously profane voicemail prompt, it almost made up for the disappointment.

At Flanery's prompt, the entire crowd cheered and clapped; Sean finished the message by telling Connolly that he'd just heard the reaction from the Dallas crowd after seeing the movie.

Hope he got the message.