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The Way of the Gun (2000) Artisan Entertainment 1 hr. 59 mins. Starring: Benecio Del Toro, Ryan Phillippe, Juliette Lewis and James Caan. Music by; Joe Kraemer. Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie 
The Way of the Gun Rating:  
E-MAIL GIANCARLO DE LISI Christopher McQuarrie is a man who is known world-wide as the talented individual who wrote the award-winning script for Brian Singer’s masterpiece, ‘The Usual Suspects”. Therefore, after receiving an Academy-award for his script with that achievement, he decided that he was ready to write another script, and on top of that, transfer it to film himself. Was he ever wrong. It is known that in Hollywood if one receives an Academy-award, it will substantially increase the chances of advancing your career, and I am convinced McQuarrie’s award for ‘Suspects’ was the only reason why he got the green-light for this pitiful piece of filmmaking. The ‘Way of the Gun’ is a dark, quasi action-drama that revolves around two peddling thieves played by the horrible Ryan Phillipe, and the incredibly talented Benecio Del Toro. Del Toro seems to have gone to waste in this film as he plays a thief simply trying to get by scamming local groceries and banks. That is until he and his partner, Phillipe, devise a scheme to kidnap a young woman who is carrying a child for a rich couple and expect to hold both her and her un-born child to the couple for an incredibly ludicrous 15$ million dollar ransom. Those who appreciate cinema can already see that there is a problem with this far-fetched script. McQuarrie attempts unsuccessfully I might add, at weaving a multi-layered and character-driven script that ultimately ends up being neither. Along for the ride in this wasted effort are the great James Caan who simply seems to mope along in this film probably just for the pay. Juliette Lewis plays the pregnant young mother who simply seems to cry every moment she gets, probably because she regrets acting in this film, and then you have Taye Diggs, an up and coming star that looks good when he holds a gun, but still can’t hold a scene all by himself. If this review is too harsh, I hope it is. I really wanted to like this film, but what can you possible expect when you pen a masterpiece such as “Suspects” and follow it up with a stinker such as this piece. The pacing of the film is too slow for it to be called an action film, and the drama too fake to be called a drama. It seems as if McQuarrie does not know if he wants his film to be an action or a drama with a bullet-riddled ending. There really is no action, and if you know McQuarrie’s style, expect a lot of twists and turns in the plot that accumulate to nothing. There are at least 4 plot twists, and all four plot twists are not followed up on. They are simply there it seems to satisfy any craving of fans that demand a repeat of McQuarrie’s last writing style. It will take a whole lot more than a few twists thrown in to make it a good film. Furthermore, I think this film suffers from what I and other Hollywood critics like to coin, ‘Tarantino Anxiety’. The film can easily be compared to Tarantino’s style of writing where we have characters that go by fake aliases, they seem to be mysterious in their unknown pasts, and there is always gritty dialogue that seems to set an opinion on a certain facet of life. A great example of this in ‘Gun’ would be when Phillipe and Del Toro are at a sperm bank answering some questions concerning their sexual orientation, and there is a great line that closes the film, ‘all prayers are answered, but only in the way they came’. My prayer is that McQuarrie did not rush the release of the film, changed the whole concept completely, and revamped this film. He at times displays some visual flair, and his other film demonstrated that he can write, but the unfortunate thing is that he cannot couple these two important traits together to make a great film. Maybe, he should just stick to writing, but when you look at this attempt, he might want to reconsider even that aspect of cinema. In conclusion, a poor debut, a poor script, which in the end results in a pathetic film. Click here to comment on this review or post your own thoughts. Giancarlo De Lisi © TheWorldJournal.com |
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