Boston's Top 5 Best Onscreen Hitmen

Boston has its share of crime dramas filmed here (because not everything can be a Kevin James movie). Based on this genre alone, it would seem our beloved city has some excellent hitmen. Here are our Top 5 favorites:

THE TOP FIVE BEST HITMEN OF BOSTON FILMS

Runner up - Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon),

"Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season"

Not a real movie.

We just love having excuses to play this clip: Good Will Hunting 2

5) Mr. French (played by Ray Winstone), "The Departed"

Not actually his real name... just happens to look like another guy named Mr. French. He's not so much sociopathic as morally neutral about killing people. It's just a job. Almost makes you admire his loyalty to the company. While Mr. French seems to have an understated sense of humor, you really don't want to be pissing him off... or owing him money... or cheating on him.

4) Ryan Gaerity (played by Tommy Lee Jones), "Blown Away"

While technically not working for hire anymore, the amount of planning Ryan Gaerity puts into your death makes him mentionable. He's not going to just shoot you from a distance; he's going to elaborately blow you up. Like all good hitmen, he can slip into locked places almost effortlessly, never seems to need money for ammunition, and can untraceably vanish when the police start investigating. Now that's a professional.

3) Il Duce (played by Billy Connolly), "The Boondock Saints"

While the Saints themselves make captivating hitmen, the real master is Il Duce. He enters the film from a shadowy, mysterious prison dungeon, akin to Sean Connery's entrance in "The Rock" (what is it about older Scottish prisoners that they are kept down the darkest deepest corridors?). After that, you'll see 12 flying bullets before you even realize he's there. Silent. Deadly. Dresses like a comic book villain.

2) Darius Jedburg (played by Ray Winstone), "Edge of Darkness"

He's the man who keeps you from connecting A to B. He can sit and have a calm conversation with you, then unexpectedly shoot you. Also, he's very good at Latin. He likes the finer things, like drinking wine on park benches in East Boston. Classy! Originally, this role was played by Robert DeNiro, who dropped off the project after a few days of shooting. Congrats to Ray Winstone, for making our list twice!

1) Staff Sgt. Sean Dignam (played by Mark Wahlberg), "The Departed"

When this guy goes on leave from work, he certainly knows how to kill the time. He can out trash talk Alec Baldwin's FBI agent, and doesn't blink at Jack Nicholson's mafia king. The ultimate bad cop. I would not want to find Sgt. Dignam standing in my apartment with bags on his feet. After all, he's "the guy who does his job." You don't want to be the other guy.