I thought it was great

Author: Gustavo Martinez from Queens, New York
30 January 2001

I can only comment negatively about one scene in the movie. I thought the movie was extremely effective in building up the intensity of certain scenes, however they used probably their most dramatic and climatic orchestra number for a scene where they simply dumped bags of money into a truck and drove off. My girlfriend and I stood confused as the music built up and built up, then finally climaxed. Didn't make a bit of sense to either of us.

With that said- I thought this movie was outstanding. Benicio Del Toro has this presence about him that radiates "coolness", and Ryan Phillippe did a remarkable job as well with his role. There were scenes in which hardly any dialogue was spoken, yet whole paragraphs were spoken through facial expressions. Thats a testament to the abilities of the actors right there. The double meaning of the game of hearts explanation was fascinating and fun to decipher.

Plots twists galore, not a single one of them predictable. The terminology was all new to me (i.e bagman  dejudication I think it was...) and it made me feel like I was actually participating in the movie.This is a thinkers movie, and some people may not be in the mood for that. The entirely creative car chase scenes and shoot out sequences are enough to satisfy the most mindless action fan, however.This movie is just cool.(cool?..euh donnes moi ta définition de cool vieux ; ce film est bien,d'accord mais il est TOUT sauf cool !) 

Ryan Phillippe : M. Parker

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Ode to Peckinpaugh -neo-noir pulp fiction

Author: george.schmidt (gpschmidt67@gmail.com) from fairview, nj
28 April 2004

THE WAY OF THE GUN (2000) ***1/2 Ryan Phillippe, Benicio del Toro, Juliette Lewis, James Caan, Taye Diggs, Nicky Katt, Scott Wilson, Kristin Lehmann, Geoffrey Lewis, Sarah Silverman.

Christopher McQuarrie makes his directing debut in a big way with an obvious nod to Sam Peckinpaugh with his screenplay about two ne'er do well criminals (Phillippe and del Toro, both exemplary) who decide to make a mark for themselves by kidnapping a very pregnant surrogate mother (Lewis) to a wealthy businessman (Wilson) that eventually pans out to be a big mistake in a tangled web involving the woman's bodyguards (Diggs and Katt) and the bagman friend of the rich man (Caan in one fine, low-key performance of nuanced dread).

More than enough rich dialogue (!?) and pinpoint camera angle set ups to go around with some live wire moments of unexpected turnarounds, double crosses and shoot outs may be the film's only fault in being an excess of too much of a good thing. A roundelette of pulp fiction best served by its exciting cast (as a side note, del Toro reminded me for some reason as a young Robert Mitchum in some scenes; go figure) and a filmmaker to watch.