Where to watch The Way of the Gun
2 1/2 Stars
Two petty, violent criminals kidnap a woman who is being paid $1million to be a surrogate mother. As the baby is for a gangster, the pair’s demand for money sees several henchmen and assorted other ruthless characters head after them to Mexico. Bullets rather than talking are always going to settle this one.
I remember seeing Way of the Gun in a movie theater and being both depressed and disappointed when the screening ended. These same emotions had been evoked by Peckinpah misfires like Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia and The Killer Elite. The film’s story is very complex and has required, at least for me, several subsequent viewings to unravel each character’s motivations. After 25 years and several revisits, I think I have everything figured out. I don’t fault Way of the Gun for being a downbeat experience; most movies only generate apathy, but I think it could have been even better if McQuarrie made it at this point in his career.
There is no question that Christopher McQuarrie is one of the great talents of modern cinema. His work on several Tom Cruise projects has elevated him back onto the A-list. Still, it would have been interesting if he snuck in this low-budget neo-noir crime thriller in between the Mission Impossible installments. Way of the Gun is a violent film that features lyrical passages and a dull pace, rendering its 120-minute run time tedious. A scene midway through the movie in which Caan and Del Toro have a cup of coffee is fantastic and is the closest thing to the Pacino/Deniro scene in Heat you’ll ever see.
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, Juliette Lewis