Waste of time

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I love the shoot outs in this movie. Great gun play!

The Way of the Gun (2000): Dir: Christopher McQuarrie / Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Ryan Phillippe, James Caan, Juliette Lewis, Taye Diggs: Nobody cares what happens in this film because there is not a character in it that we care about. It regards violence and the senseless actions that resort to such extremes. This is proved within a climax where bullets fly, people die and viewers are unmoved. The film stars Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro who kidnap a pregnant woman played by Juliette Lewis. James Caan demands that the child be delivered safely but he is hiding a secret. His son is Lewis's doctor who apparently got into trouble in Baltimore and owes Caan more than a few favors. Intriguing setup derails into gory violence. Director Christopher McQuarrie delivers on the action but never finds an emotional core. Phillippe and Del Toro are constantly in the midst of violence but they display no sense of human worth. Lewis is doing little more than be a waiting pregnant woman. Caan is given his umpteenth gangster role that has plagued his career since The Godfather, and rarely can these roles match what that film played out. There is no reason to see this film unless one has some sadistic desire to watch human destruction and carnage at its exploited worst. Pointless mayhem demonstrates that the way of the gun is no way at all. Score: 4 / 10

'The Way of the Gun' is a film that people either love or hate. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. It could have benefited from some minor editing to help with the pacing, but I love the dialogue and characters so I can forgive this flaw.Parker and Longbaugh are drifters and petty crooks, although they appear to have served in the military as judged from their training. While donating sperm for money, they overhear a doctor gossiping about a woman who is being paid $1 million to carry a wealthy couple's child to term. They quickly hatch a very poorly thought out plan to kidnap her and hold her for ransom.The attempted kidnapping is ultimately successful only because the woman is trying to get away from the icy bodyguards who escort her everywhere she goes. After taking her, Parker and Longbaugh encounter one unforeseen complication after another. The wealthy patron who is the father of the unborn child brings in a bag man to "adjudicate" the entire situation, and Parker and Longbaugh are hamstrung by their own incompetence.This is a talking heads movie punctuated by a few brief action scenes, and luckily it is populated by a great cast. Benicio del Toro and Ryan Phillipe are very good in this film, which is half of a surprise. Who knew that Phillipe had the range to pull this off? Juliette Lewis is, well, Juliette Lewis, as she sympathetically portray's Robin. James Caan nearly steals the movie as Joe Sarno, the bag man. There are a lot of great character actors at work, in fact there are too many to name. The dialogue is occasionally over written and writer / director Chris McQuarrie over indulges himself in the way these scenes play out. That said, there are a lot of beautifully crafted scenes in the film. The plot is really about the various family relationships that are slowly being revealed, and culminates with a surprising revelation about Joe Sarno's connection to Robin.I love the metaphor used during the game of hearts speech, as well as the compassion that the two kidnappers show for their hostage. I love that the bodyguards are plotting against their boss in his own kitchen, while his scheming wife eavesdrops. Joe Kraemer delivers a beautiful orchestral score, and I particularly enjoyed the music which accompanied the ultrasound viewing. The piece of music which accompanied Sarno's receipt of the money was the other highlight in the film. One reviewer asked why the score was so prominent here: I will opine that it's because the scene sets up the final act wherein the characters' fates will be decided.I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Sarah Silverman's hilarious and profane diatribe during the opening scene, which leads to a fight where Parker and Longbaugh are left bleeding on the ground. It's an image that bookends the film. I will also compliment McQuarrie on the fantastic weapons handling from all of the actors. Apparently his brother is a Navy SEAL, and he trained all of the actors. That man should become a full time technical adviser. We see Parker and Longbaugh use a perfectly executed bounding overwatch to break contact and escape the first failed kidnapping attempt, as well as outstanding room clearing skills and even a 'rolling T' when they sweep through the brothel. They also perform tactical reloads, weak hand magazine exchanges, and immediate action drills like complete pros. Very, VERY few films display this degree of technical accuracy, so for me it's noteworthy.If you enjoy hard boiled dialogue and gritty realism, and you can enjoy a relationship based drama, then you probably already love 'The Way of the Gun.' It's a shame that it wasn't more commercially successful, because I'd love to see McQuarrie make another film like this.

Foul-mouthed "metrosexuals" (at the very least) Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro can't find work in Los Angeles. Despite their sharp haircuts, they are street thugs. So, they kidnap a very pregnant Juliette Lewis for ransom money. As luck would have it, Ms. Lewis turns out to be the surrogate mother for a very wealthy gangster. Mr. Phillippe and Mr. Del Toro ask for 15 million dollars in "unmarked bills" (they're new at this). Things get complicated when Lewis reveals a shocking secret about the baby. Doctor Dylan Kussman provides some plot intrigue and stiff-necked James Caan takes care of unpleasantries. Writer turning director Christopher McQuarrie mixes shoot-out and child labor blood with vociferous ads for the "Coca-Cola" company.*** The Way of the Gun (9/8/00) Christopher McQuarrie ~ Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, Juliette Lewis, James Caan