The Way of the Gun

Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, Juliette Lewis, Taye Diggs, Nicky Katt, James Caan, Geoffrey Lewis, Dylan Kussman, Scott Wilson, Kristin Lehman, Sarah Silverman
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama
2000

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two criminals (Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro) kidnap a pregnant woman (Juliette Lewis) who has ties to a dangerous criminal (Scott Wilson) who will spare no expense to get her back.

Review:

Tim: I was really interested in going back to see Christopher McQuarrie's directorial debut. He's had a nice run with Tom Cruise, directing Jack Reacher, Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation, and Mission: Impossible- Fallout (perhaps the best film in the series). McQuarrie also has an Academy Award, for writing the original screenplay for The Usual Suspects. With all this excellent work later in his career, I was a little surprised I didn't like his first feature more. Although to be fair, it was 12 years between he directed this movie and his second movie. He matured and grew a great deal in that span.

The Way of the Gun is a decent movie, but it's heavily flawed. McQuarrie writes a complex, twisting script. However, despite the fast-moving plot, the realism he tries to bring to the film, and the multiple characters, each with their own motives, something doesn't quite work. I often criticize a film for not having likeable characters. That's a valid criticism when the movie needs likeable characters. McQuarrie's film isn't one of those- you're not supposed to like these people, necessarily. He certainly spends a lot of time pointing out that no one in this film is "good" and that they all act in their own self-interest. That's fine. The problem here is that I didn't care about anyone in this film. That's different than liking them. I wasn't intrigued by the characters. I didn't lean into this film, desiring to know more. Sure, there's a few decent moments for each of the characters, but it doesn't prevent this underlying issue. If you don't care about these characters, can't identify with their hopes or fears, it prevents you from emotionally accessing the story. That means that large parts of this movie will be rather dull. You need to care and I did not.

The cast is good, but most of them just come off as decent, maybe a little better. Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro make for an interesting pair. They're in the "lead" roles, but McQuarrie certainly seems to want to make a movie where the story isn't really "about" the leads. They're there, they are involved, but it's almost like they are supporting actors in this story. It's an intriguing twist to the story, however, it ultimately doesn't impact the movie much one way or another. It's just a different tweak to the story. Phillippe and Del Toro both give worthwhile performances. I didn't love either of them, but they work. Juliette Lewis had a more focused job and she manages to bring a nice touch of humanity to her character. I'm not entirely sure I cared about her character, but it gets close, being a mother in distress. It could have been a throwaway role, but Lewis elevates it. James Caan is always fun to see and he seemed to have fun (in his restrained way). He had a nice sparkle in his eye as he delivered some of his tough guy lines. He was effective here. Taye Diggs and Nicky Katt were decent- it feels like the story spends a bit too much time on them. They aren't nearly as interesting as McQuarrie seems to think they are. Scott Wilson adds a nice performance and Sarah Silverman is absolutely memorable in the opening scene. Dylan Kussman felt fairly terrible- his blank stare grew annoying and I was thoroughly unconvinced by his performance. However, you can't really complain too much about the cast, although the film needed standout performances.

The story is worthwhile, I appreciated McQuarrie trying to tell a mature, complicated story that didn't pander to audiences. I wouldn't say I was riveted, but it was fun. I appreciated the focus on trying to make the action scenes believable. Outside of the big shootout at the end, the film accounts for every bullet fired and the characters reload when appropriate. This is a nice touch to the film, but it doesn't make it more entertaining. I did appreciate that McQuarrie gives his characters some quieter moments to allow them to talk, interact, and develop his characters. Still, when you don't care about a single character in the film, the nearly two hour run-time feels overly long.

I have to say, I hoped and expected to enjoy The Way of the Gun more. It's not a bad movie, but it should have been a lot better than "decent". It's an okay start to a directorial career that would certainly improve over time. Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Usual Suspects, Jack Reacher