I have for you is a story about an enthusiastic director and his two stars who, for an hour, sat with me at The Irish Pub on 20th and Walnut in Philadelphia.

I make my way into the basement of the center city bar. Looking forward to an interview, that if you had told me I would be doing 5 years ago, I would have laughed in your face. The reason I say this is because 5 years ago I was in the basement of a friends house with about 10 other testosterone driven teenage guys anticipating seeing what they referred to as “The best fucking movie you will ever see in your life”.

The reason I preamble with that is because that experience for me is exactly what happened all across the country with fans in relation to Troy Duffy’s debut The Boondock Saints. Rare is it for fans to be so overwhelmingly supportive of a movie, that not only do they bring the film from indie hit to cult classic, but 10 years later, they are still salivating for more.

“You don’t know how many times I’ve said Make like a tree and get the fuck out of here” I say to Duffy, who sips from his coffee.

“Those lines are what we were going for with the next movie. If you liked that then pretty soon you’ll be hearing guys saying “Ding-dong Mother fucker!”

Duffy has the legendary Veritas and Aequitas tattooed on his right and left forearms. I ask him if the Latin words for Truth and Justice (respectively) are the influence for the tattoos that the McManus brothers don on their trigger fingers.

“Actually my wife got me these as a Christmas present, I had seen all the fans coming out with them so I figured it was time.”

That type of dedication to a relationship between director and fan is an incredible thing. By this time, the two starts of the movie Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus have made their way back downstairs from having a smoke.

I sip from my Bloody Mary and Reedus picks his up from the table. We clink glasses agreeing “it’s a good fucking drink”.

10 years after the filming of the Boondock Saints, The Macmanus brothers are looking good. Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flanery were pumped to talk about the film. When I asked the two what it was like picking up on the characters after the hiatus, they have nothing but great things to say.

“We got on set and put on the peacoats, picked up the Irish accent again and It was like riding a bike” Flanery remarks.

Not only that, but it seems like the cast and crew had a great time filming the movie together. Aside from what they told me themselves, it was great to look up the guys on Twitter and Facebook and see the massive following they had as they updated their fans on the progress of the movie. It is a special thing when it is no longer about producing a movie because it’s commissioned by the studio, but because there is a genuine love and appreciation for what is being created.

As for the additions of Julie Benz as Special Agent Eunice Bloom and Clifton Collins Jr. as Romeo the three men agree that the extra actors fit in perfectly.

“Julie held her own” Duffy says, referring to the fact that Julie Benz is the only female lead in a male dominated cast.

Even though the movie just came out, I ask Duffy about his thoughts on the Saints coming back again. He agrees that there are always opportunities for another movie. As for the targets these two purveyors of Truth and Justice Duffy tells me “They would have to get more political, more involved with real criminals… you know the types of guys that are putting Grandma’s out on the streets and sleeping soundly at night”.

YOU GOTTA LOVE THAT.

It seems to me like the three men sitting before me are not just colleagues who worked on a film but rather friends who are dedicated to bringing their fans a story that has become a cult classic since 10 years ago when it first came out. All I can hope is that a few months from now, there may be a high school guy (or girl) sitting in a friends basement getting ready to watch “the best fucking movie they’ll see in their entire life”.

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