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	...	Harold 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:

watching tv | criminal | surrogate mother | money | gangster | 

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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:

$8,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,150,979, 10 September 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$6,055,661

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$13,069,740

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

Mr. Parker's Remington 870 shotgun is equipped with a tactical sling, but it is looped over the weak side of the gun to keep from obstructing the operation of the slide in the pump action shotgun.

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Goofs

Jeffers (Taye Diggs), while shooting at the extremely well lit parking lot, which would disallow all the fire to be seen from the handguns, shoots more than a few shots with no fire seen from his handgun. Once behind car while shooting at a Mexican policeman and a few times when shooting from beside the car he had put Robin (Juliette Lewis) into. Bad editing continuity.

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Quotes

Robin: When you think about deaf people, people who are born deaf... who've never heard a spoken word. What do you think they call the sun or their mother... or their own reflection in the mirror? That's what I call it.

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Crazy Credits

Towards the end of the credits: For Arly Thomsen you speak the truth Arly was the Key Grip for this and many other films.

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Connections

Referenced in Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light (2006)

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Soundtracks

Esperanza
Written by Carlos Ortega
Performed by Casalando

User Reviews

Ode to Peckinpaugh -neo-noir pulp fiction

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.