Way of the Gun (2000)

Synopsis: Cutthroat criminals capture confused kid-carrier, kill crooked custodians. [and they’re the good guys, by the way!!]

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “From the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Usual Suspects, this wickedly off-beat mix of crime, comedy and gunplay stars Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro.”

What Did I Learn?: Not much, but this film has some memorable quotations: 1) A pint of your blood can fetch you fifty bucks. A shot of cum, three grand. 2) Karma's justice without the satisfaction.3) a plan is just a list of things that don't happen. 4) A woman needs security like a man needs approval.4) Fifteen million dollars is not money. It's a motive with a universal adaptor on it. 5) There's always free cheese in a mousetrap.6) The only thing you can guess about a broken down old man is that he is a survivor.

You Might Like This Movie If: You figure it must be a sequel to Way of the Exploding Fist.

Really?: 1) Hold on – Jeffers and Obecks (Taye Diggs and Nicky Katt) demonstrate such fanatical loyalty to their employer that they refuse to lower their guns when the protagonists have the drop on them...and yet they’re willing to rip him off and commit cold-blooded murder later on? That doesn’t compute. 2) Exactly how far away is that Mexican motel from the Chiddick mansion in LA? At times, it seems like it’s a long drive; at other times, not so much. 3) So wait...do Parker and Longbaugh (Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro) do a face-turn at the end, or what? Why do they follow Jeffers’ car from the motel if they were planning on giving up on the kidnapping scheme, anyway?

Rating: As much as I generally like James Caan, even he can’t save Way of the Gun from a number of problems, the biggest being that the film is populated with unlikeable scumbags, and even the protagonists are vicious, sociopathic brutes. Frankly, it’s impossible to root for anyone in the last half hour or so, and the final shootout just seems pointless. I cannot recommend this movie. 5/10 stars.

Would it Work for a Bad Movie Night?: Maybe.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0202677/?ref_=sr_1