The Way Of The Gun (DVD)

It seems that intelligent films often slip through the Hollywood net. To back up this theory you only have to look at this film, Way Of The Gun. In 2000 it seemed to slip the net with no huge Hollywood hype and even the release on DVD was a rather quiet affair. I discovered it somewhat by accident having been looking for films staring Benicio Del Toro I came across it and thought it sounded rather good. It isn’t a media friendly film and that is perhaps the reason why it wasn’t really promoted as much as it should have been and it shows Ryan Phillipe isn’t just another pretty boy actor. Phillipe and Del Toro star as a pair of criminals who take advantage of ...  Read the complete review

Fans of fresh-faced teen film star Ryan Phillipe should be warned to stay away from ‘The Way of the Gun’, unless they want to watch a film in which their heart-throb is a violent heartless criminal who thinks nothing of kidnapping a heavily pregnant woman and holding her to ransom. Oh, and they probably won’t the bit where he graphically pulls a chunk of glass out of his arm. Yes my friends, the title is a bit of a giveaway, and this stunning piece of action cinema is not one for those who flinch at violence and harsh language. Parker (Phillipe) and Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro) are a pair of petty criminals who overhear a man in a sperm ...  Read the complete review

The Way of the Gun is not a film for everyone. There are no heroes or heroic actions to be seen here. In fact there is very little in the way of morality in the film. Each character has an agenda and something to gain by each of the other characters downfall. You have to admire the writer/director Christopher McQuarrie for ignoring Hollywood parameters of identifiable hero, love interest, happy ending, blah blah and making something unconventional and very rarely seen these days. I’d applaud him for that even if the film was shit. Happily, it isn’t. The two ‘main’ characters are petty thieves down on their luck, forced to hocking their ...  Read the complete review

With this title, you'd expect eastern mysticism mixed in with the use of guns as an art form. That'd make a good film, actually, but instead your left with an almost good film. Longbaugh and Parker kidnap a surrogate mother, in the hope that the ransom money will be the one big score they've been looking for. Unfortuantely they bite of just a bit more than they can chew. The surrogate mother is carrying a very rich and very dangerous man's child. The bodyguards protecting her are up to something, the doctor trying to take care of the mother is up to something, the wife is up to something, and James Caan as the ageing bagman is definitely up ...  Read the complete review

This is one of the best films to come out in 2000. It follows a couple of kidnappers who bite off more than they can chew when they kidnap the mouthy pregnant woman that is Robin (Juliette Lewis). For them, the ransom can't come too quickly! This is a great film. It's cult status is rightly deserved, as it really isn't a conventional film but still has its own brilliance. In many ways it is like a Tarrantino film, with quirky acting, plot, editing and dialogue, but it never did as well as high work. Well, the plot is excellent. It really examines the captor / captive relationship between the three main characters in some detail. The psychology of ...  Read the complete review