Way of the Gun

Written by the same dude who wrote The Usual Suspects, The Way of the Gun is a much simpler tale compared to the award winning Suspects. It tells of two small time crooks, played by Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro, who get entangled in a game of crooks versus crooks when they try to pull of a kidnapping.

Dreaming of bigger things in life, but regardless of the method used to achieve their dreams of riches, they overhear a conversation at a sperm bank clinic (one of the most happening dialogues in the movie happens there) about a surrogate mother bearing the child of some rich family. They decide to kidnap the lady, played by Juliette Lewis, and hold the mother and child hostage.

However, they embroil themselves into a bigger web of intrigue, as every character, from the mother, the husband and wife who employed her, the doctor, the bodyguards, to the "bagmen", all have their own agenda, and the relationships between one another must be one of the most complex written for the screen in recent times. Everything is more than meets the eye, and betrayals and double crossings are the agenda for the day.

The pacing is well measured, and there are moments of suspense masterfully injected at points in the movie. I like the initial hostage taking scene, where the sudden shift of focus and introduction of complexity catches our two anti-heroes Longbaugh (Del Toro) and Parker (Phillippe) completely off guard. The car chase and pursuit is also one of the more innovative and quirky scenes in the movie, one which Del Toro actually suggested, and got it made on screen. You have to watch it to believe.

The finale gives a kick to western shoot-em-up fans, as Longbaugh and Parker go head to head with everyone in a Mexican brothel, using modern day weapons of shotguns and handguns. Thrown into the mix is veteran James Caan, as a bag-man extraordinaire, having been so long in the business because of his experience in staying alive.

Del Toro and Phillippe exude an excellent bond of camaraderie between their characters - they trust nobody except for themselves, while I thought Juliette Lewis was terrific in her role as the very pregnant mother caught between both sides, and yet bringing out strength as she fights for her child's and her own survival, taking her interests in her own hands.

It's a good mix of action and workout for your brain as you figure out the relationships between the characters as the narrative moves along. Suited for those mundane afternoons in which you want to break out from.

No special additions in this Code 1 DVD.

I can only comment negatively about one scene in the movie. I thought the movie was extremely effective in building up the intensity of certain scenes, however they used probably their most dramatic and climatic orchestra number for a scene where they simply dumped bags of money into a truck and drove off. My girlfriend and I stood confused as the music built up and built up, then finally climaxed. Didn't make a bit of sense to either of us.

With that said- I thought this movie was outstanding. Benicio Del Toro has this presence about him that radiates "coolness", and Ryan Phillippe did a remarkable job as well with his role. There were scenes in which hardly any dialogue was spoken, yet whole paragraphs were spoken through facial expressions. Thats a testament to the abilities of the actors right there. The double meaning of the game of hearts explanation was fascinating and fun to decipher.

Plots twists galore, not a single one of them predictable. The terminology was all new to me (i.e. bagman/dejudication I think it was...) and it made me feel like I was actually participating in the movie.

This is a thinkers movie, and some people may not be in the mood for that. The entirely creative car chase scenes and shoot out sequences are enough to satisfy the most mindless action fan, however.

This movie is just cool.

THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000) ***1/2 Ryan Phillippe, Benicio del Toro, Juliette Lewis, James Caan, Taye Diggs, Nicky Katt, Scott Wilson, Kristin Lehmann, Geoffrey Lewis, Sarah Silverman.

Christopher McQuarrie makes his directing debut in a big way with an obvious nod to Sam Peckinpaugh with his screenplay about two ne'er do well criminals (Phillippe and del Toro, both exemplary) who decide to make a mark for themselves by kidnapping a very pregnant surrogate mother (Lewis) to a wealthy businessman (Wilson) that eventually pans out to be a big mistake in a tangled web involving the woman's bodyguards (Diggs and Katt) and the bagman friend of the rich man (Caan in one fine, low-key performance of nuanced dread). More than enough rich dialogue and pinpoint camera angle set ups to go around with some live wire moments of unexpected turnarounds, double crosses and shoot outs may be the film's only fault in being an excess of too much of a good thing. A roundelette of pulp fiction best served by its exciting cast (as a side note, del Toro reminded me for some reason as a young Robert Mitchum in some scenes; go figure) and a filmmaker to watch.

Two low-life criminals (Ryan Phillippe & Benicio Del Toro) kidnap a pregnant surrogate (Juliette Lewis) of a rich couple who, unknowingly, has ties to the mob.

"The Way of the Gun" (2000) is an offbeat flick in the tradition of "Pulp Fiction" written & directed by a proven screenwriter and featuring a quality cast, which includes James Caan. It's touted as a "modern Western" with two protagonists patterned after Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (their names in the film are the last names of Butch & Sundance).

It starts out as a black comedy with cussing every other word, but then morphs into a serious crime drama with flashes of gunplay. The score is notable.

Two issues hinder the film: (1) A plot that becomes convoluted and therefore increasingly unbelievable, and (2) unlikable characters, except for maybe the surrogate. Concerning the second issue, I understand the concept of antiheroes, but even antiheroes require some redeemable or universally human qualities to make the audience root for them or care about them. Wolverine and Clint Eastwood's Western characters, like Josey Wales, are good examples, as are the antiheroes in films like "Runaway Train" and "Apocalypse Now," two cinematic masterpieces.

These two points naturally create disinterest and tempt the viewer to tune out. The first time I watched it I gave up by the 90-minute mark with a half hour to go, I could care less about the characters, their story or how it turned out, even though I tried.

On my second viewing, I decided to pay closer attention and stick with the movie till the end. I'm glad I did because this is a well-written examination of crime & violence and the fools involved. An attempt is made to flesh-out all the main characters and I'm talking no less than nine people, each of whom are a piece of the interlocking puzzle, often with their own agenda.

While it's no where near great like the seminal "Pulp Fiction," it has style and glimmerings of depth. If you can get past the convoluted story and unlikable characters, it certainly has its points of interest, like well-scripted dialogues and Del Toro's towering performance, not to mention Taye Diggs's interesting heavy.

The film was shot in Utah in the Salt Lake City area.

GRADE: B-

I used to like movies like: "The Matrix" and "Bad Boys". But I've grown very tired of violent conflict portrayed as easy, fun, moral, and without risk. This is a movie where all the violence is fearsome, difficult, and wholly unpleasant. As it should be, anything else really is dishonest and evil.

This is one reason i think most people don't like this movie. There are two more. One is a somewhat complicated plot. There are about a dozen characters and each one have different motives and I think most people can handle no more than 4 motives. The other reason is that the "main characters" are not the heroes of the story. They set the story in motion and keep it together but they are not who the movie is about and to tell a story in such an unconventionally roundabout way is entirely confusing for some people.

So you may not like this movie if...

You are uncomfortable with violence being violent,

You can't keep track of the motivations of 8 separate characters,

You automatically believe that the story is about the characters played by the actors pictured largest on the box.

otherwise you may really like this movie because it's really well made in all its aspects.