RARA-AVIS: Way of the Gun

From: Mark Sullivan ( DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net)
Date: 08 Sep 2000


I just got back from seeing Way of the Gun. It's about two petty criminals who "stepped off the path." They stumble upon what they believe is their one chance for a big score and they are not going to let anyone get in their way. Just about everyone in this film is truly nasty, all with secrets not too far beneath the surface.

It's written and directed (very impressive first outing on that count, by the way) by the guy who wrote Usual Suspects, but it's not that kind of film. As one character replies to the question of whether he or his friend is the "brains of the operation," he replies, "To tell you the truth, it's not exactly a brains kind of operation."

Another great line: "15-million dollars isn't money -- it's motive, with a universal adaptor."

It also has something of an overlap with westerns, a mourning for a fading era, now too many "are more interested in being criminals than in commiting crimes."

I thought the movie was really great, but be warned: it can be brutal and gets very bloody, with none of the ironic detachment of so many in the post-Tarantino school of crime movies. (This is not to say the movie does not have its ironies or moments of dark humor.)

Mark

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