My New Gun

This movie interested me since I first heard of it, which was a Siskel & Ebert review. Until Gerald Bender has to go to the hospital, the movie is really interesting. But after that point, not so much. It was still very watchable, indeed, but somehow the edge wasn't all there. The Stephen Collins character, I think, is what keeps the movie going. But when Diane Lane is now the lead, the movie is a bit slow. As for Skippy (played by James LeGros), this character is too subtle. The reasons for wanting his neighbors' gun are never clear. Is he secretly a murderer? Is he protecting somebody? As to whether this is something you're easily supposed to figure out, I have no idea. And as the movie gets closer to the end, it starts to make a lot less sense. And as for the ending (without spoiling too much), there is a gun involved, but what is the point of this scene? And I don't think the movie ends. It just stops.

**1/2 out of ****

Everything in this movie seems to me to have evolved rather than being contrived as is so often the case in American comedies. The characters are all credible, and some are refreshingly likeable while the "bad" guys get what they deserve, but only that rather than the overkill typical of moralistic movies. Stacey Cochrane's debut as writer/director.

Overall I felt that this was an extremely well written movie. I had not heard of it the first time it came out, but a friend recommended it to me and I just loved it. I even suggested it to my in-laws who loved it as well, and they don't like anything. I loved the angle the writer used. The plot is not like all the other boring ones seen in the theaters today. You are never quite sure what will happen next, because everything that happened was not expected. The dialoge is smart and quick bringing in a plethora of one liners that provoke laughter. Best part....see Diane Lane at such a young age and still giving a great performance. This is a great date movie too because the sexual tension is done extremely well.

Dark comedy, more puzzling and inscrutable than satisfyingly quirky, centers on the ever-changing circumstances happening to a modern day suburban couple who bring a gun into their house. Writer-director Stacy Cochran seemingly has a lot to say about "internal and external regeneration," but never manages to put all her thoughts together (the people in her screenplay talk haltingly, measuring their thoughts between their words). As a result, we're drawn to Diane Lane's lovely, quizzical concern as the housewife to doctor Stephen Collins but not much else. The scenario is intentionally vapid, with these neighborhood weirdos living in a vacuum, but Cochran isn't able to make her sideways vision funny or interesting. *1/2 from ****

I watched this movie and found it to be extremely disappointing. There were one or two slightly humorous scenes, the plot was very slight. The story revolved around what happened when Diane Lane's character & her husband when they buy a new gun and cross path's with their neighbour "Skippy". I kept waiting for something interesting to happen but it just didn't. The acting was decent enough but the pace of the movie was very slow & uninteresting. The character of Lane's husband played by Stephen Collins was extremely annoying. I also saw Happiness which was mentioned in one of the reviews of this movie, I was disgusted with it and did'nt find it to my taste at all.

I personally thought this one one of Diane Lane's worst movies. 3/10