SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

eternal_buzz They make no excuses. They don't ask forgiveness. Their story is without compromise, brutal and simple. For contemporary desperados Parker and associate Longbaugh, crime means survival at any cost. Their impromptu plan to kidnap surrogate mother Robin, just weeks from delivering the son of Hale and Francesca Chidduck, seems to be a fast way to cash in on a fat ransom and head for the border. But their haste does indeed make waste.They make no excuses. They don't ask forgiveness. Their story is without compromise, brutal and simple. For contemporary desperados Parker and associate Longbaugh, crime means survival at any cost. Their impromptu plan to kidnap surrogate mother Robin, just weeks from delivering the son of Hale and Francesca Chidduck, seems to be a fast way to cash in on a fat ransom and head for the border. But their haste does indeed make waste.

billcr12 Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Christopher McQuarrie is obviously attempting to be Quentin Tarantino; he isn't close. A great cast is wasted by a convoluted story. Benicio del Toro is Longbaugh and Ryan Phillippe is Parker, and the pair travel together, scheming to separate people from their money. They hear about a surrogate mother carrying the future offspring of a rich guy and so they kidnap her in a shootout with her bodyguards. They demand $15 million to safely return the mother. It shifts to Mexico where the kidnappers are offered $1 million by Joe Sarno(James Caan), a go between, to walk away from the situation unharmed. The Mexican police become part of the program and we get more shootouts, some torture and a finale that looks like Peckinpah. The result is an o.k. crime drama; but don't expect Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction.

ACureforPain "The Usual Suspects": brilliant, innovative, Oscar-winning screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie, creative low-budget directing from Bryan Singer, giving the film a visual flair and some overall superbly directed action scenes."The Way of the Gun": screenplay by and directed by McQuarrie himself. I thought: "this should at least be interesting? Del Toro is in it?" Yeah, let's watch that.The opening scene is, in my mind, a classic. It shouldn't be spoiled by trailers of people, so I'm not going to.Then the opening credits follow. They introduce us to the awe- inspiring score by Joe Kraemer, who's been composing for movies that are insulting to his dramatic abilities as a composer. The score, at that's no-one but the director's fault, practically saves a big chuck of the movie.The movie starts dragging before you realize it. But it's okay, at first, because of some truly brilliant, "it's-like-Mamet-had-sex-with-Tarantino"-"pieces of dialog writing."There's always free cheese in a mousetrap.""Karma's justice without the satisfaction. I don't believe in justice."And, my personal favorite:"The only thing you can guess about a broken down old man... is that he is a survivor." Wonderful performance by James Caan.Then you have two secondary characters (of which there are way too many in this film): Taye Diggs & White-Mexican guy. White-Mecixan Guy is the serious one. (always bad if you remember the name of the actor and not the character - no one says "Brad Pitt in Fight Club", they say "Tyler Durden says...") Ryan Philippe plays Parker. That name you'll remember after seeing his performance. Philippe surprised me. I only knew him from "IKnow What You Did Last Summer", which was more fun-then-freight, and "Cruel Intentions", a good and somewhat underrated attempt at modernizing "Les liaisons dangereuses". Sarah Michelle Gellar outplays him in that one, though.But in this he squares off with Benicio Del Toro's Longbough. Del Toro I first saw in The Usual Suspects. A whole string of great work followed: "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas", a short part in "Snatch." that stole the entire movie, a wonderful comedic performance in the underrated "Excess Baggage" and of course, "Traffic". An Oscar well deserved. Del Toro is the kind of actor who always stretches himself in his performances, always doing something new. In this one, he made the wise choice ("suggestion to McQuarrie" says IMDBtrivia) of keeping silent most of the time. Some of his facial expressions alone makes some scenes in this worth watching.So how come this movie started dragging after a good hour? It was a long wait for a shoot-out-ending which is, admittingly, fantastically choreographed and leaves the viewer with a climax to remember. But was it worth the long wait?The problem to me is that, visually, the film is quite boring most of the time. In terms of lighting, creating the "mood, feel, style, what have you" that a movie with this kind of script deserved. Now it's just people talking like they're living chess pieces, just there for the plot to take place.There is an occasional inspired shot, especially in the last half-hour when things start to get rolling again. All of a sudden you're paying attention again. Thanks to Dick Pope, D.o.p.Aaron Sorkin, whom McQuarrie could be if he went political, realizes his writing is basically "people talking brilliantly" and that he needs a competent director to make it visually interesting, fit for a film. That's why he lets others direct.McQuarrie hasn't directed a film since "The Way of the Gun", but he is writing again. I enjoyed his occasional fingerprint in "The Tourist", a movie I otherwise didn't enjoy at all. Let's hope him and Bryan Singer get together and do a crime movie together again. "Until that day then?" Until that day.

Cyril Julien Some films simply slip under the radar when it comes to accolades and praise, they remain almost cult or legendary in their status to a few. In a lot of cases these films are not "that" good, just simply have a special appeal to generate a cult following. But in the case of a special few like 'Millers Crossing' or 'Glengarry Glen Ross', these movies are truly amongst the leaders and very best in their field, to the point that as soon as the credits roll, you wonder how the hell you've never watched this before or why it didn't make greater box office or claim any major awards.The Way of the Gun is like the bastard child of a Western and a Gangster flick, holding many of the attributes of both genres and belonging to neither in whole. It centres around two wayfaring career-criminals who stumble into a kidnapping that leads to a great deal more than they bargained for. Every character in this film has game, everyone brings something motivated to the table with a twisted angle or a revelation. This movie oozes cool in almost every scene with Benicio Del Toro leading that emphasis with inspired panache! Ryan Phillippe has never performed this well again and both James Caan and Taye Diggs excel in their roles. If writer-director Christopher McQuarrie ever blesses us with another specimen presented as brilliantly as this then we should consider ourselves truly fortunate.If ever a movie was worthy of 10 stars, it's this one. Everything from the well paced, unfolding plot and the riveting chess-like gun-play to the awesome musical score that hits the nail on the head like Elmer Burnstein's Magnificent Seven or John Williams's Superman theme. A hidden gem that's well worth discovering for the first time as much as it is revisiting, superb!