Review of The Way of the Gun (2000) by Phil C — 22 May 2008

There's always something special about movies which do things differently to a genre. A couple of years back, The Usual Suspects did it to the thriller. Then, the screenwriter from that film, Christopher McQuarrie, gave the action film the once over with The Way of the Gun.

There aren't, after all, that many action films which have two heroes who act like villains, a car chase with speeds under five miles an hour and the full agony of childbirth. But don't think that's all a compromise. The Way of the Gun is an unquestionably brutal film from start to finish, but is also one of the most intelligent the action genre has produced in recent years.

The story is deviously simple. Two partners in crime, Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro, decide to abduct Juliette Lewis, a pregnant surrogate mother, hoping to hold her unborn child's parents to ransom. This family, though, aren't the type to be messed with and the kidnappers find themselves persued across Mexico by a variety of hired guns. It's soon apparent, though, that whilst our kidnappers seem to have no motivation for their actions whatsoever, those doing the chasing all have other motives than just following orders.

This twist means we have no real good or bad guys, and with lies and secrets abundant, nobody's innocent. And it works, mostly because of the strength of the central performances. Especially those of Phillippe and Lewis, who convey the respective agonies of mental self doubt and the sheer physical pain of bearing a child. They're supported by the wonderful James Caan who literally oozes professionalism as the family's head hitman.

Although the film's subtext is deep, it's never far from another lengthy shootout and perhaps the whole film suffers from haunting by the ghost of Tarantino. However McQuarrie, in his directorial debut, proves there is room in the world for a second violence supermo. His visual style, like his story, doesn't make compromises. There's no slow motion or freeze frames to accompany the brutal action and the film purposely looks bland and unglamorous. We're left in no doubt that the harsh reality which comes from following the way of the gun is not a nice or heroic place to be in. And there really aren't a lot of action films which will tell you that.