The Way of the Gun (2000)

Two criminal drifters without sympathy get more than they bargained for after kidnapping and holding for ransom the surrogate mother of a powerful and shady man.

Director:

Christopher McQuarrie

Writer:

Christopher McQuarrie

Stars:

Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, Juliette Lewis

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan Phillippe	...	Mr. Parker
Benicio Del Toro	...	Mr. Longbaugh
Juliette Lewis	...	Robin
Taye Diggs	...	Jeffers
Nicky Katt	...	Obecks
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Abner Mercer
Dylan Kussman	...	Dr. Allen Painter
Scott Wilson	...	Hale Chidduck
Kristin Lehman	...	Francesca Chidduck
James Caan	...	Joe Sarno
Henry Griffin	...	P. Whipped
Armando Guerrero	...	Federale #1 (as Mando Guerrero)
Andres Orozco	...	Federale #2
Jan Hanks	...	Receptionist (as Jan Jensen)
José Pérez	...	(as Jose Perez)

Storyline

Two petty if violent criminals kidnap a girl being paid $1m 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.

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Plot Keywords:

surrogate mother | baby | kidnapping | mexico | ransom | 

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence/gore, language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Sangue Frio

Filming Locations:

Abandoned Gas Station, Skull Valley, Utah, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£191,169 (UK) (17 November 2000)

Gross:

$324,922 (France) (15 December 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artisan Entertainment, Aqaba Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Unlike many movies with action-packed gunfights, every round fired is accounted for and all characters reload when appropriate, with the exception of one sequence in the brothel courtyard where Parker and Longbaugh fire dozens of rounds in rapid succession without pausing to reload: an intentional sort of fun tribute to classic action movies.

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Goofs

The first time we see the Chidducks and Robin together, her hair near her left ear.

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Quotes

Longbaugh: We die here, we die alone

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Crazy Credits

Henry Griffin is listed as P. Whipped. He is the guy whose girlfriend is yelling at Parker and Longbaugh and ends up fighting them, thus he is "P[ussy] Whipped."

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Connections

References Persona (1966)

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Soundtracks

"Esperanza"
Written by Carlos Ortega
Performed by Casalando

User Reviews

An adult action movie

I used to like movies like: "The Matrix" and "Bad Boys". But I've grown very tired of violent conflict portrayed as easy, fun, moral, and without risk. This is a movie where all the violence is fearsome, difficult, and wholly unpleasant. As it should be, anything else really is dishonest and evil.

This is one reason i think most people don't like this movie. There are two more. One is a somewhat complicated plot. There are about a dozen characters and each one have different motives and I think most people can handle no more than 4 motives. The other reason is that the "main characters" are not the heroes of the story. They set the story in motion and keep it together but they are not who the movie is about and to tell a story in such an unconventionally roundabout way is entirely confusing for some people.

So you may not like this movie if...

You are uncomfortable with violence being violent,

You can't keep track of the motivations of 8 separate characters,

You automatically believe that the story is about the characters played by the actors pictured largest on the box.

otherwise you may really like this movie because it's really well made in all its aspects.