Review of The Way of the Gun (2000) by Larry M — 03 Aug 2009

I don't know how this flew beneath my radar for the last 9 years, but I have the denizens of the IMDb message boards to thank for bringing it to my attention. If you're a fan of The Usual Suspects, you probably know that Christopher McQuarrie wrote the screenplay for that film.

Well, he not only wrote the screenplay for The Way of the Gun, it's also his directorial debut, and he comes out swinging for the fences. The film stars Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro as two criminal drifters named Parker and Longbaugh, and right from the opening scene when they walk out of a night club into a parking lot full of trouble, you get the feeling that this is not going to be your garden variety action flick.

Sarah Silverman has a cameo in the scene as Raving Bitch, and the profanity-laced diatribe she spews at Longbaugh for sitting on her boyfriend's car has to be heard to be believed. Of course, she has no idea she's dealing with two 'don't give a shit' sons of bitches who would just as soon punch your lights out as look at you, but she soon discovers this.

And even though Parker and Longbaugh end up getting the shit kicked out of them by the whole parking lot crew, it shows us something about their nature. They back down from no one and nothing. I'm not going to go into too much detail about the plot, since one of the joys of the movie is discovering all the twists and turns, and surprises that unfold along the way.

Suffice it to say that Parker and Longbaugh overhear a conversation that leads them into what they believe is their one-in-a-million, chance of a lifetime shot at striking it rich. This involves a plan to kidnap a surrogate mother named Robin (Juliette Lewis), who is carrying a baby for the wife of a rich and powerful man named Hale Chidduck (Scott Wilson, In Cold Blood).

During the kidnap attempt, they come up against two bodyguards named Jeffers (Taye Diggs) and Obecks (Nicky Katt) who would 'rather die than lose', and later they have to deal with fixer/bagman Joe Sarno (James Caan) and suicidal hitman Abner Mercer (Geoffrey Lewis, real-life father of Juliette).

At almost every opportunity, McQuarrie takes conventional thriller situations and turns them upside down to create something fresh and unexpected, including what has to be the slowest car chase in movie history.

And I'm still not sure how Robin winds up alone in the hotel room holding a shotgun, with Parker and Longbaugh outside. I'll have to pay closer attention next time. The thing I love most about the film, other than the great performances and the fact that it has a climax that does Sam Peckinpah proud, is that none of the characters are mere cardboard cutouts.

They're all considered to be important, they all have their fair share of screen time, and they all have their own plans about how to handle the situation they've been thrown into. Unfortunately for most of them, they weren't present to hear Parker's pearl of wisdom that "a plan is just a list of things that don't happen".