The Way of the Gun

Rating:
Summary: definitely give this one a chance
Review: i thoroughly enjoyed this one. i loved the directing style, and the filter that this film was shot through really added to the "feel" of the whole movie. it was very well acted, with quirky, loveable main characters; and a pretty good script. if you're a del toro fan, it's definitely a must-see. don't miss this one.

Rating:
Summary: CHRISTOPHER MCQUARRIE TRIED TO MAKE A CLEVER FILM, BUT...
Review: "The Way Of The Gun" was written, and actually directed by the writer of the great "The Usual Suspects", so this has to be good, right?.

In this movie, we can see good actors like James Caan and Benicio Del Toro, so this has to be good, right?.

Also, we can find actors that appear in some good movies like Ryan Philippe in "Gosford Park" and Juliette Lewis in "Cape Fear" and "Natural Born Killers", so this has to be good, right?.

The answer to those previous questions is the same: WRONG, VERY WRONG!!.

"The Way Of The Gun" is supposed to be a very clever film, with exciting plot twists, like those we saw in "The Usual Suspects", but is merely a pretty poor movie, with half baked ideas, with an awful screenplay, horrible direction, mediocre performances by almost every person in this so-called "movie", only the great James Caan and Benicio Del Toro are tolerable on this thing, but they show only a very small percentage of their acting talent.

Ryan Philippe and Juliette Lewis deliver perhaps their worst performances of their lives, and with Ryan Philippe that's saying a lot; in this thing, Juliette Lewis overacts 99% of the time, she is supposed to be a pregnant woman, but she screams like she is being tortured by Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition; where is the talented young actress we saw in "Cape Fear"?, gone forever...perhaps. And Ryan Philippe is a horrible actor, for every 10 bad movies he makes, he delivers only one decent movie; of course "The Way Of The Gun" isn't the decent one.

The story is very poor and senseless, 10 minutes after the ridiculous opening scene you are through with this silly and pretentious film; the characters are so poorly developed and are so stupid, that they make look the character Kelso from the TV sitcom "That 70's Show" like a super-genius that will discover the cure for the AIDS illness.

If you are looking for an entertaining movie, look somewhere else; a speed competition between a couple of snails is 1000 times better than seen this pathetic "movie".

Mr. McQuarrie, instead of trying to be a ridiculous imitation of Quentin Tarantino, please stick to your writer's abilities and deliver another script as good as the one you did in "The Usual Suspects".

Rating:
Summary: A Modern Western
Review: Two words, modern western. Remember the days of John Wayne? When a guy with a gun chased another guy with a gun halfway across the country with minimal police involvement? This is one of those movies.

The Way of the Gun (WoG)is most definately one of my favorite movies, not for it's over use of Colt 1911's or the amazing gun fight sequences, but for the religious and societal meanings laced throughout the film. Ryan Phillippe speaks of god and mercy with Benicio Del Toro, and Del Toro replies with, "I'm gonna tell him I was Framed," upsetting Phillippe, but in the end, Phillippe doesn't know what he has to say in his defense.

Let's not forget the societal statements of this movie, it's based on the concept that money equals happiness. Phillippe and Del Toro believe this and kidnap Julliete Lewis, a surigate mother, in hopes to collect on a ransom from the millionare parents of the baby.

But the plan doesn't play out and plot twist after plot twist end with blood shed and suprises. But the only way to actually know what happened and who did what, the film must be viewed multiple times. This is truely a modern masterpiece that was greatly understated and is required viewing for any person who watches movies.

Rating:
Summary: Simple, clean action film
Review: This is a great action film. Reviewers have often seemed disappointed by this film, as they were expecting another plot and character heavy movie like The Usual Suspects (which came from the same Director/Writer). I much prefer this film. For me, The Usual Suspects was too smart by half. Throughout the film I kept imagining a writer patting himself on the back for his brilliance. This is a much leaner and meaner piece of work. The basic plot is simplicity itself: a couple of low-level criminals kidnap a pregnant surrogate mother, who is carrying the child of a crime boss. The two demand a ransom, of course. Plot, however, is not what makes this film very, very good.

Director, McQuarrie, set out to create a sort of homage to the great, classic action films of the 1960's, and he has done a great job. Movies like The Getaway and Bullitt were films that were neither plot nor character driven, but driven instead by a tremendous feel for action and violence. Guns and intimidation set the pace of these films, and it sets the pace for The Way of the Gun.

That is not to say that the film is without good acting and writing. The dialogue is chocked full of great lines, and all concerned give very good performances. For me, the standout performances come from the old dogs: Scott Wilson, who plays rich patriarch Hale Chidduck is great to watch. Wilson has had a long and terribly underrated career, and he turns in another great supporting character role here, full of a smooth calmness that barely overlays a quivering fury. James Caan matures very nicely as Joe Sarno, aging body guard and go-to guy for Hale Chidduck; and finally Geoffrey Lewis plays Abner Mercer, an old pro sidekick to Caan and very handy with a gun (if you don't know Lewis's name, you should. I guarantee you will recognize his face).

The young dogs do nicely, too. Benicio Del Toro is hypnotic as usual and Taye Diggs is surprisingly effective as a professional gunny hired to protect and retrieve the surrogate mother. Juliette Lewis is on hand to supply the only negative in the picture, once again proving she has the God-given gift to be annoying and overact.

I recommend this film highly if you long for the days when film makers weren't so tricky and cute and realized that violent action was as viable an engine for a film as plot quirks or arty dialogue.

Rating:
Summary: Pointless Plot, Flat Characters
Review: The phrase, "Written by Christopher McQuire" no long holds any sway with me.

Here we have characters with no substance what so ever. They exist soley to curse and kill people. (And I mean that in a bad way) Since we know nothing about them we feel nothing for them.

There is a plot, but one that's ultimatly hollow. Criminals Phillipie and DelToro kidnap surigate mother Juleitte Lewis and hold her for ransom. The adoptive parents use their killer body guards Dey Diggs and James Cann to pursue with a slew of silly fight scenes.

There is nothing redeeming I can find about this film. The plot is silly and the characters hollow.

Rating:
Summary: Let your girlfriends/wives watch this one
Review: I reluctantly went to the theater with my husband to see "The Way of the Gun" as it was his turn to pick a film to see. I'm not your usual chick-flick kinda chick, I really appreciate good films that keep my attention and leave me wanting to talk about it afterwards (in a positive way! re: "Signs" *shudder*).

I'll admit that the title had me a bit set against it, and surely the first scene of the movie also turned me off as it was completely pointless and should have been cut from the film entirely. After that, however, is where it really begins.

I wont get into plot specifics as I see many reviews have touched on that aspect already. The first action scene where the kidnapping occured blew me away. It was unlike ANY scene I had ever seen in a film. It set the tone for the entire movie to have intense emotional drama without noise, without running or shooting blindly. It showed that these two criminals were a step above your average thug or person who "is more interested in being a criminal than wanting to commit a crime". The bodyguards also prooved to be a step above your typical bouncer thug, but rather very well trained men who entered the profession for it's strategic and competitive appeal.

I loved the old man who was hiding behind the motel with the cel-phone that just wouldn't operate. He cracked me up all the way through with the odd russian roulete to the silliest death scene ever to be shot. Him and the main Bag Man had womderful dialoge and set the tone for his obvious wisdom and experience in the life of a hitman. I liked how the older gentlemen were depicted as wise, and not as bumbling old coots.

I did not understand one part of this plot. What did Dr. Painter do? Something with an abortion? Huh?

I enjoyed the dialogue emmensely, and perhaps this is why it's appealing to women and men because it doesn't assume that you the viewer is a mindless dingleberry who is easliy bored by interesting plot and character development *ahem!*

Rating:
Summary: Spectacular and Misunderstood film
Review: Ill skip the synopsis; everyone else seems to have laid it out well enough.
One of my favorite aspects of the film is the dialogue. This movie is full of memorable expressions; its one of the most quoteable films out there. The dialogue is short and concise, and the characters manage to carve themselves out within it. But thats not whats so remarkable about it. The cool part is, half the dialogue is unspoken. Most of the time the two protagonists dont even speak to each other, the communicate with demeanor, not so much facial expressions and body language, but they make it clear to each other and the audience exactly what theyre saying, wordlessly.
The ending may be predictable, but the closing monologue, like the rest of the script, is fantastic. And i wonder how many of you people who didnt like it, and even those who did, know whats really going on in the film. Theres a backstory here thats never quite revealed, but is fairly obvious. I suggest you all watch it again, and really watch it.

Rating:
Summary: TACTICLLY CORRECT ACTIONEER
Review: HOLLOYWOOD TURNED ITS BACK ON THIS ROGUE OF A FILM AND THAT IN ITSELF SHOULD TELL YOU ITS PRETTY GOOD.
RYAN PHILLIPS AND BENECIO DEL TORRO PLAY SMALL TIME HOODS WHO EMBARK ON A GET RICH QUICK SCHEME. THEY KIDNAP A PREGNANT YOUNG GIRL WHO IS HAVING A CHILD FOR A WEALTHY COUPLE WHO CANT.
THE TWO CROOKS SHOOT IT OUT WITH TWO EMOTIONLESS MERCENARIE TYPE BODY GUARDS EMPLOYED TO PROTECT THE YOUNG MOTHER AND HER UNBORN CHILD.
THEN THE PLOT THICKENS WITH THE RICH BABY BUYERS WHO ARE BIG TIME CROOKS. GO BETWEEN JAMES CAAN IS CALLED IN TO DEFUSE AND RECOVER. HE PLAYS WELL OFF OF THE COCKY SELF ENAMORED SECURITY GUYS. THERE ARE NUMEROUS TWISTS AND TURNS INVOLVING CONFLICTED CHARACTERS WHO ALL SEEM TO BE INNER RELATED AND OUT FOR THEMSELVES.
THE FILM CULMINATES WITH THE TWO KIDNAPPERS ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT THEIR BLOOD MONEY FROM CAAN AND HIS HENCHMEN.
THERE IS A EXCELLENT CHOREOGRAPHED SHOOTOUT IN THE COURTYARD OF A MEXICAN WHOREHOUSE.

THE ACTION TAKES CENTER STAGE IN THIS FLICK AND IS PROFESSIONALLY DONE. SCENES FROM THE FILM COULD BE USED IN MILITARY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING FILMS. WHOEVER TECH ADVISED THE GUN PLAY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING. THIS TYPE OF TACTICAL CORRECTNESS IS RARELY SEEN IN MOTION PICTURES.

BENECIO DEL TORRO IS AN EXCELLENT ACTOR WITH A LUCRATIVE CAREER AHEAD OF HIM. CAAN IS GREAT AS ALWAYS. THESE ARE THE TYPE ROLES HE WAS BORN TO PLAY.

THERE ARE A FEW SCENES THAT SEEM OUT OF PLACE AND INNAPPROPRIATE. BUT WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SOME POOR EDITING THIS IS A WINNER AND SHOULD HAVE RECIEVED PRAISE FOR ITS DARE TO BE DIFFERENT.

Rating:
Summary: Spaghetti western with a bang
Review: It's a Western disguised as a modern-day gangster film. It is the code of the gunslinger laid upon the backbone of the code of the Bushido, the way of the samurai.

Director Christopher McQuarrie has written and directed an ultra-violent story of two veteran criminals placed in a position where morality is the path to their golden ticket and not a multi-million dollar ransom. Played ably by Benicio Del Toro and Ryan Phillippe, the two anti-heroes kidnap a surrogate mother (Juliette Lewis) carrying a baby associated to a mob family. Pursued by the elements of the mob (James Caan, Taye Diggs) the story crescendos into a Mexican standoff true to the theme of the film. "The Way Of The Gun" holds little back in the regards of violence. The style is reminiscent of "The Wild Bunch", and the gun play feels real.

In the first few moments of "The Way Of A Gun", pay particular attention to the music. True fans of the Western genre and of Spaghetti Westerns in particular will recognize the tell-tale signs of a Sergio Leone/Ennio Morricone signature tune. In the final showdown in a rundown Mexican brothel, Christopher McQuarrie has replicated the Spanish fountain plaza setting from the climax in Leone's "A Fistful Of Dollars".

McQuarrie is paying homage to the themes of redemption and salvation of anti-heroes portrayed so emphatically in the spaghetti westerns of the 60s and 70s, and also in the Japanese ronin-chambara films made famous by samurais played by Toshiro Mifune (Sanjuro) and Shintaro Katsu (Zaitoichi) in the 1960s. When Del Toro and Phillippe break their criminal code and sacrifice their escape for their kidnapped victim, much like Eastwood in Leone's "Dollar" movies and Mifune in Kurosawa's "Sanjuro" series, the good deeds of bad men go punished. Such sacrifice shows honor and courage. This is the way of the gun, the way of the samurai. Death before dishonor.

Rating:
Summary: Not that bad or good
Review: I have seen the Usual Suspect, and did not like the movie that much, so I saw the Way of the Gun and it's better then Usual suspect, but is not a great movie (note the 4 star) it should be 3 1/2 but I can not select it, so here it is 4 stars. If you like violence and swearing, you'll like this movies, but the story is a little week.