'Way of the Gun' Gets Bad Directions

The Way of The Gun Dir: Chrisotpher McQuarrie Starring: Benicio del Toro Ryan Phillipe Juliette Lewis James Cann Taye Diggs 2000 R, 119 m RATING: 5 out of 10

SHOOTING BLANKS: A talented cast gets muddled in "Usual Suspects" writer McQuarrie's directorial debut.

Though Christopher McQuarrie can boast that he wrote one of the best crime films of the 90's with "The Usual Suspects," he might want to refrain from mentioning he both directed and wrote this film.  "The Way of the Gun" is a thoroughly plodding, bumpy, uneven ride into the crime film genre that effectively confuses and makes little use of it's cast formidable acting talent. It's funny how an obviously detail-oriented writer like McQuarrie could offer up such a convoluted plot: two petty criminals (Del Toro and Phillipe) kidnap a very pregnant surrogate mother (Juliette Lewis) to a criminal couple whose two hired guns (Diggs and Nicky Katt) care about their job so much they'd rather die than lose.  Also in the foray are  James Caan as the couple's other, older, wiser hired gun, and the father's brow-beaten son (Dylan Kussman), both of who have ulterior motives for their involvement with Lewis.  Or something.  Suffice to say, the plot's reminiscent of the Coen brothers without the dark humor or clarity. Though the movie starts with a crackling scene of humor, tension, and violence between Del Toro and Phillipe and a loud-mouthed girl, that's about as amusing as the whole film gets.  What it promises in the first scene never really resurfaces in the entire film.  There's little wit to this tale that offers up some splashy shootouts, but little else.  As the pair of inept criminals, Del Toro and Phillipe lack the chemistry necessary to be a threatening presence.  When they're alone on screen, they shine, but once they try to seem as a potent pair, their intensity dwindles.  James Caan also seems misused here, attempting to offer originality in a role recycled from so many other crime films: a veteran of the game who knows its tricks inside out and attempts to be philosophical.  Doesn't McQuarrie know this has been done much better in other movies and to death overall?  Lewis is believable as the pregnant girl stuck in the middle of the debacle, and as the determined bodyguard, Diggs probably turns in the best performance, yet it, too, is bogged down by a meaningless scene of intimacy with the wife of the aforementioned couple. With Way of The Gun, McQuarrie has served up an array of forgettable, unlikeable, and unredeemable characters in a bloated, unfocused script.  In the final moments of the flick, Phillipe's character sighs in a bored tone, "We don't ask for forgiveness." I hope McQuarrie, however, does.

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