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Guns 'n gross-outs
The directorial debut of the screenwriter of The Usual Suspects is full of unsympathetic characters and gore.
By PHILIP BOOTH
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 7, 2000
[Photo: Artisan Entertainment]
Ryan Phillippe plays a kidnapper without much of a clue in The Way of the Gun.
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The Way of the Gun, the directorial debut from The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, puts a bullet or two -- okay, make it a thousand -- in an upsetting trend: The steep decline of movies centered on tough guys, real descendants of the nihilistic souls that peopled classic film noir.
Heavy on the dark drama and multiple shootings committed in the scorching afternoon sun, it's a bloody, twisting road film populated by almost entirely unsympathetic oddballs.
McQuarrie's movie might be thought of as a cross between Quentin Tarantino and Sam Peckinpah. But there's little of the Pulp Fiction director's quirky humor to lighten the proceedings.
These folks, not a surprise from McQuarrie, know how to talk the tough-guy talk. "Anyone who would do business with me can't be trusted," says Hale Chidduck (Scott Wilson), a rich, money-laundering businessman with a long list of murderous associates. And here's Chidduck's longtime clean-up specialist, the menacing Sarno (James Caan), waxing philosophical on the root of all evil: "$115-million is not money. It's a motive with a universal adapter."
That's the amount of cash demanded by Parker (Ryan Phillippe of Cruel Intentions) and Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro of The Usual Suspects). The brothers in crime, drifters with nothing to lose and no clue about what to do with the loot, freely improvise a creaky plan to get that windfall.
On a whim, they kidnap the pregnant, emotionally troubled Robin (Juliette Lewis), a well-paid surrogate mother for the child of Chidduck and his sexy young wife (Kristin Lehman). Here's the snag: The two bloodthirsty half-brains aren't aware of the power and spidery connections of Chidduck, an egotist willing to employ an army of assassins to guarantee the safety of his future child.
The Way of the Gun, at its most basic level, is a glorified game of cat and mouse. Parker and Longbaugh initially elude Chidduck's most trusted point men, Jeffers (Taye Diggs) and Obecks (Nicky Katt), a pair of slick schemers who aren't clever enough to outmaneuver the amateurs when it comes to tricky car chases.
The outlaws, racing toward hoped-for freedom in Mexico, have other worries, including an unstable hostage complaining about an impending medical crisis and a physician (Dylan Kussman) willing to risk his life for his patient.
The Way of the Gun's palpable sense of dread is underscored when experienced hit man Sarno has a quiet but threatening heart-to-heart with Longbaugh, in one of the film's most chilling scenes.
The older crook all but spells out the nature of the dark abyss at the end of Longbaugh's path. But like any good advice dispensed in neo-noir, it is ignored.
MOVIE REVIEW
The Way of the Gun
- Grade: B+
- Director: Christopher McQuarrie
- Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, Juliette Lewis, Taye Diggs, Nicky Catt, Scott Wilson, James Caan.
- Screenplay: Christopher McQuarrie.
- Rating: R; violence, gore, profanity
- Running time: 119 minutes.
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