Look I love 'The Usual Suspects' as much as the next guy, and think it's one of the few movies of the 1990s that can truly be considered a classic. But I think comparing that movie to 'The Way Of The Gun' (Christopher McQuarrie wrote both and directs this in an impressive debut) is unproductive and misguided. Both movies feature criminal anti-heroes and tricky plot twists, but in different ways, and are very different in approach and theme. McQuarrie isn't repeating himself here, this is something new. Something that has more in common with Sam Peckinpah than the plethora of shallow post-Tarantino rip-offs Hollywood has foisted on us in recent years.
The basic premise is fairly straightforward - two losers "Parker" (A surprisingly effective Ryan Phillipe in easily his best role to date) and "Longbaugh" (the always excellent Benicio Del Toro), cook up a half baked scheme to kidnap a surrogate mother (Juliette Lewis - 'Cape Fear', 'Kalifornia') and hold her for ransom. Little do they realize that she is carrying a child for Chidduck, a Mob money launderer (veteran character actor Scott Wilson - 'In Cold Blood', 'The Ninth Configuration') who has some nasty associates, and is reluctant to pay up.
The guys soon find themselves embroiled in a chinese puzzle of relationships including ruthless bodyguards Jeffers (Taye Digs - 'Go') and Obecks (Nicky Katt - 'SubUrbia', 'The Limey'), and Chidduck's bagman and troubleshooter, the complex Sarno (the legendary James Caan - 'The Godfather', 'Thief'), and Sarno's colleague Abner (frequent Clint Eastwood sidekick, and Juliet's real life father, Geoffrey Lewis).
To reveal what happens would be to ruin this wonderful movie. 'The Way Of The Gun' isn't a stupid popcorn action flick. It requires thought and attention to fully appreciate, and that fact, along with the lack of heroes, and the matter of fact violence, seems to have turned many people off. But in my opinion it is just those factors that will make this, like 'The Usual Suspects', a movie that will stand the test of time.
Along with 'Chopper', the movie that has impressed the most so far this decade. Don't miss either one!
