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The Way of the Gun

The Way of the Gun

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: stunning show
Review: I loved pretty much everything about this movie. From the opening scene to the final, Christopher McQuarrie has put together a wonderful story.
I'm sure you know the plot if you've read the other reviews. Most of what I have read is that McQuarrie tried to put too much into this film. I'll admit that the multiple stories and plot twists can be confusing at times, but it's also what makes this film great. His attention to detail is evident in scenes that add that little extra something you wouldn't normally get in standard Hollywood pictures. Benicio del Toro gives an awesome performance in this. Many of his quirks are just on the fly and not scripted, which allows him to shine. Also solid performances by James Caan, Ryan Phillippe and Scott Wilson.
As for the DVD, the picture was beautiful and for once, I found the director's commentary engaging and worth a full rewatch of the film.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Bad For a First Time at the Helm......
Review: Not great either,but not bad. Pacing needs to be picked up some it tends to drag at points,I think sometimes its due to a lack of intresting dialogue or a real slow down to the narrative thread where we dont want a slow down. I believe if the action stops at a point, the filmaker needs to give us somthing else. This doesnt always happen in "gun".
When the dialogue is there and the story is in the groove this film is loaded with good stuff. A twenty mile an hour car chase that I found alot more fun then the car chases in " ..60 secs.." A couple of standoffs the first involving Juliette Lewis (whose character is very pregnant),and the second as she delivers her baby are handled very well by Mcquarrie. The final shootout is also well directed.
The story line(described enough times here that I wont repeat it) is diffrent than other hiest stories, or kidnapping capers. The acting is very solid by DelToro, Caan, and Lewis.So while there is room for improvement I'm still glad I have this film in my library, and I look forward to seeing McQuarrie's next film.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Terrible
Review: One of the worst and most disappointing films I have ever seen. I generally love del Toro films. Thats all the review you need.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great debut
Review: I have to say, walking into this film, I was expecting more, but that can only be because of the fine credits of the writer/director. I mean, of course you're going to have to expect double and triple crosses and enough plot twists for ten movies when you go and see a movie from the man who wrote The Usual Suspects. However, I have to say that even though I was at first dissapointed, that quickly went out the window as I got into this terrific action/noir piece by Christopher McQuarrie. His barage of bullets and profanity is some of the best stuff to come out of Hollywood in recent years. The story, which I'm not going to spoil, is a work of criminal genius, and the acting is very good (even Ryan Phillipe!). This film crosses Pekinpah's The Wild Bunch with Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (through with huge nods are made) and a little bit of 40's noir. The two antiheros are by far some of the best written characers in recent months, and the two actors tacked on to play them are great. The supporting cast, which consists of James Caan, Taye Digs, Nicky Katt, and Juliette Lewis is masterfully crafted and very low key, which is necessary when trying to make a film of this manner. There is not a single over the top performance, which gives a sort of cohesion among the ensemble. Benicio del Toro gives the films best, and sometimes most hilarious performance and has been given some of the best lines to work with. Phillipe actually does a good job with his role, considering how few lines, besides the narration, that he has. His boyish charm works perfectly as a man who doesn't give a damn and is extremely mature for his young appearance. To me, the only thing that was lacking in this film was the direction. There are too many stationary shots and a little bit too much of the Pekinpah factor involved in the direction. There are certain scenes the scream of The Getaway and The Wild Bunch, along with a little bit of Straw Dogs' claustrophobia. The script is top notch and shows how good of a writer McQuarrie is, especially when you consider that he wrote the film in five days just to get the corporate monkeys who wanted him to make a crime film off of his back. This is the great type of neo-noir action thriller that will stabalize the genre, but it is sad to read interviews with McQuarrie in which he says this will be his last foray into the noir genre. A talent like his in a genre this hard to work correctly in is definitely few and far between, and this film will be studied, not for the direction, but for the always odd plot that drove this film to the great heights that it reached.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Non-Stop Entertainment
Review: A film destined to be a cult classic. Benicio Del Torro and Ryan Phillippe star in this action packed, violent, dark comedy. The two play people who were tired of the normal life and chose to go off the beaten path. Sooner or later this leads them to kidnap Juliette Lewis, who is carrying a very prominent business man's baby. Now, the two of them are getting deeper into Mexico with two hit-men, Nicky Katt and Taye Diggs, the Police, and a Bagman (James Caan) after them. This is a deeply ejoyable disturbing film that shows true grit in its' greatest form. The performances from every single actor are stunning. Especially Benicio Del Torro's. And with a director Christopher Mcquarrie, also writing the script, who won the Oscar for writing the Usual Suspects script. This movie couldn't be better. Watch this movie. You'll love it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Worth it for Sara Silverman
Review: This film opens with one of the best and most original scenes in years: a crazed, vulgar party girl (Silverman) calls out Ryan Phillipe, believing that her boyfriend will fight for her. She goes on a horrific tirade, until Phillipe becomes fed up and punches her in the face. It's probably the only cinematic example of this common phenomena--loud girls starting fights that their reluctant boyfriends have to carry out; but it's subverted wonderfully. However, everything is downhill from this initial colorful scene. The rest of the movie is a slow, often ponderous and wholly convoluted story of two men abducting the pregnant surrogate mother of a shady millionare. Watch the sequence before the credits, don't worry too much about the rest.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Truely disappointed...
Review: Wow. What a waste of time. I feel like I have just thrown away 2 hours of my life that I could have been doing something much more productive. Usually when good actors like Phillipe, Del Toro, and Caan come together, the finished product is one of greatness. Well, not here folks.
I did not care about ONE of these characters. Not one. I never sympathized once with any of them. The criminals are stupid. I never really cared if they succeeded and got the money, or if they died in the next scene. The bodyguards of the wealthy man act like robots. Their dialogue seems forced, and, also ....robotic. Although she plays a very convincing pregnant lady, Julliette Lewis doesn't provide much. Long, pointless, dragged-out gun scenes plague the movie. Usually gun fights are cool, but I wasn't impressed. To all you reviewers who are giving this movie 5 stars...I ask, "WHY?!" There are so many better films than this out there, with better storylines and acting. This movie is not good. Plain and simple. And can Del Toro get any uglier? I mean how did this guy make it in Hollywood? I guess Hollywood needs an ugly guy for roles like this. Skip this one, and don't be fooled by it's price. It's not worth it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Terrific action!
Review: This is a great movie.LOts of great gunfights well shot and they feel realisic.The story is hardcore and not for the faint of heart.The acting is great the names speak for themselves and they all perform well especially Benicio Del Toro,if you are an action lover you'll love this,if you love movies with cool shootouts you'll love this or if you just like thrillers about a kidnapping you'll also like this, go ahead and buy it its one of the best dvd price deals for a great movie i've seen!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Movie, very entertaining
Review: I blind bought the movie after some friends recommended it to me. This is McQuarrie's first shot at directing, he wrote the the excellent ¨The Usual Suspects¨. While this isn't on par with his previous work, it's well written, has a good story with an amazing amount of depth (you can find a few Shakespear themes here if you feel like digging in), and it also has one amazing action sequence and two very intense and original ones.

Ryan Phillipe and Benicio del Toro are Parker and Longbough, two criminals who kidnap a young surrogate mother who is carrying a rich couple's baby who have quite a few connections. The story revolves around Parker and Longbough and how all the other characters are connected to them. In the end everything is tied in nicely. This movie gets better with more viewings too.

The acting here is top notch, Benicio Del Toro is great as usual and Phillippe is surprisingly good. The supporting roles are great too, Taye Diggs and Nikky Katt are pretty good as the bad guys and James Caan gives a good performance as a ¨bagman¨. Juliette Lewis, while annoying at times, also gives a believable performance.

The DVD isn't too shabby either. The video is sharp and the sound, while it depends on dialogue throughout most of the film, is great in the action scenes. The extras include commentary by Director, Storyboards and Scrips for deleted scenes, cast and crew bio. One complaint though is that the DVD doesn't inclue any type of subtitles, don't know why.

Overall: A well written,and plotted movie,with good performances,and surprising depth.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Lots of Fun
Review: Highly entertaining and extremely well written. The writing alone makes the movie worth seeing. It has a great western feel as well that keeps things interesting throughout. My favorite line is one Juliette Lewis and Ryan Phillipe have with each other: Lewis-"I like bacon." Phillipe-"Its from a gas station." Lewis-"Its still good." Some well choreographed gunfights, witty banter, great acting, and a terrific score elevate this flick from generic crime caper/b-movie to classic cult film status.


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