THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000) / ** 1/2
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie from his screenplay. Starring Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, Juliette Lewis. Running time: 140 minutes. Rated R for extreme violence by the MFCB. Reviewed on September 12th, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
It would be easy to dismiss "The Way Of The Gun" as just another rip-off of Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction". Indeed, it would also be quite easy to praise it as a worthy successor, and reviewers have taken both approaches. But the similarities between the two movies are superficial at best, limited to their avant-garde approach to violence, mixing bloodshed with clever dialogue. Whereas Tarantino's masterpiece was an essay in absurdism -- contrasting discussions of European fast food with a brutal mob hit, for example -- "The Way Of The Gun" is more a reinterpretation of a genre than a subversion. "Way" is, at its most essential, a post-modern western. The movie by which it is most inspired is not "Pulp Fiction" but rather "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid".
"Way" and "Butch" share a number of similarities. Most obviously (if somewhat obscurely for those not intimately familiar with the 1969 film) is the fact that the main characters in "The Way Of The Gun" go by the names Mr Parker and Mr Longbaugh, the civilian identities of the Paul Newman and Robert Redford characters in the earlier film. Both movies feature likeable outlaws who give up their traditional way of life in search of greater glory. "We stepped off the path," says Parker in "Way", "and went looking for the fortune we knew was looking for us." In both pictures, the main characters concoct ambitious plans which go unexpectedly and appallingly awry. And the two films each portray the passage of the western into new times: "Butch" was set at the sunset of the Wild West era, "Way" depicts a western of modern times.
Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro) are drifters in search of the big prize. While earning small change donating sperm, they learn of a woman (Juliette Lewis) who is being paid one million dollars to act as the surrogate mother for the baby of the wealthy Chidducks. They decide to kidnap the woman and hold her for ransom. But what they do not realise is that Chidduck (Scott Wilson) is a money launderer with nefarious ties. Soon they are being pursued by Chidduck's singleminded bodyguards and his veteran bagman, Joe Sarno (James Caan).
"The Way Of The Gun" was written and directed by Chris McQuarrie. That McQuarrie assumes both key creative roles is the movie's blessing and its curse. McQuarrie clearly understands the intricacies of his story intimately. This results in a number of wonderful scenes of delightful originality, often railing against the cliches of the genre. Every crime movie must have a car chase, for instance, and McQuarrie obliges. But when the scene comes, it is not a typical reckless race down a busy city street. Instead, McQuarrie's take slows the spedometer down to just a few miles an hour, and takes place not on a freeway but in labyrinthine alleyways. It is less a chase than a cat-and-mouse game, and is a marvellous slice of cinema.
It would be tempting, indeed, to label "The Way Of The Gun" as a "thinking man"'s crime movie. This is true not so much because the plot is particularly complicated -- it isn't, and what twists and turns McQuarrie does throw at the viewer are mostly related to character rather than incident -- but because the film is populated by thoughtful, well-conceived individuals none of whom feel as though they've been summoned up out of stock.
The best of these is probably James Caan's Sarno, a wise master of the business who has learned to divorce business from personal time. At one point, he confronts his prey (Longbaugh) in a bar, and the two spend the night conversing about their shared trade. "The only thing you can assume" about a man his age, Sarno tells Longbaugh, "is that he's a survivor." McQuarrie's script is peppered with such gems.
McQuarrie also demonstrates that he is as capable a director as he is a writer. There are some well-crafted shots in "The Way Of The Gun", such as a slow pan from a crowd of Chidduck's subordinates, setting off in hunt of Longbaugh and Parker, up to Chidduck's wife, watching from a window.
But, as indicated, McQuarrie's role as both scripter and director is a mixed blessing. This is most evident in the pacing of the movie, which feels sluggish from start to finish and is especially torpid in the middle third, before the action moves to a Mexican hacienda and even more "Butch Cassidy" comparisons are invited (whether this includes Parker and Longbaugh sharing the fate of their namesakes is left for the reader to discover). "The Way Of The Gun" is a movie desperately crying out for an objective viewpoint amongst its creators, somebody to recognise the strengths of McQuarrie's screenplay while cutting down on his excesses.
The result is a film that lacks momentum, that spends so long in transit that it is easy to miss the pleasant stops along the way. This is not helped by the fact that, apart from Caan, none of the other actors quite manage to establish themselves in the movie (though Del Toro comes closest, and his scene with Caan is especially impressive). Phillippe and Lewis, amongst others, are disappointingly inconsistent -- very good in places, never less than okay, but often fading into the background. Dylan Kussman, as a gynecologist with secrets of his own, feels as though he's just stepped off the bus from the prep school.
The result is that "The Way Of The Gun" is wildly uneven. It possesses some truly remarkable moments, but these are trapped in an undisciplined concoction, like nuggets of gold peeking out from the mud. McQuarrie clearly has all the tools needed to be both a fine writer and a fine director, and I have little doubt that he will one day create a movie which showcases both disciplines at their best. "The Way Of The Gun" demonstrates that that day isn't here quite yet.
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies/TheWayOfTheGun.html
_______________________________________________________________________ / Shannon Patrick Sullivan | "We are all in the gutter, but some of us \ | shannon@mun.ca | are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde | \___________________________|__________________________________________/ | Popcorn Gallery Movie Reviews www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html | | Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time (Travel) /drwho.html |
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