Extras: Trailer, Cast Interviews, Cast & Crew Biogs, Isolated Music Score
with Composer's Commentary, Director & Composer's Commentary
Director:
Christopher McQuarrie
(The Way of The Gun)
Producer:
Kenneth Kokin
Screenplay:
Christopher McQuarrie
Music:
Joe Kraemer
Cast:
Parker: Ryan Phillippe
Longbaugh: Benicio Del Toro
Joe Sarno: James Caan
Robin: Juliette Lewis
Jeffers: Taye Diggs
Obecks: Nicky Katt
Hale Chidduck: Scott Wilson
Francesca Chidduck: Kristin Lehman
Dr. Allen Painter: Dylan Kussman
Abner: Geoffrey Lewis
The Way of the Gun,
the directorial debut for Christopher McQuarrie, screenwriter of
The Usual Suspects,
is a kidnap film in which drifters Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and
Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro) take charge of young surrogate mother
Robin (Juliette Lewis), who is carrying the child of wealthy businessman
Hale Chidduck (Scott Wilson) and his toy-girl wife Francesca (Kristin
Lehman) because the latter wanted a baby without going through the
childbirth process.
Once on the run, they're pursued by Chidduck's bodyguards Jeffers
(Go's Taye Diggs)
and Obecks
(Boiler Room's Nicky Katt),
along with James Caan as Joe Sarno, the "bagman" who works for Chidduck
and gets involved in the nastier side of the gangster life so his boss doesn't
have to. Dylan Kussman makes up the cast as family doctor, Allen Painter.
There's $15 million up for grabs to the two leads if they're successful, or
anyone else in cast given that there's double-crossings aplenty, whether it's
in terms of planning a murder, having an affair or making ends meet your own
way.
What starts off as an interesting premise cools off a bit because it becomes
the type of thriller that's been done before and better. Characters chat about
things that don't matter, occasionally throwing in things that do, as well as
making references to events which occured before this film took place which gets
annoying when they get mentioned constantly. The 45 minutes in the mid-section
could use some tightening up because you're expecting a lot more action after
the opener, but it does redeem itself in the final half-hour.
Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro)
The film is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and looks fine most
of the time but there is an underlying level of grain that shows itself up
on occasion which lessens the impact during those scenes.
The average bitrate is 6.93Mb/s.
The soundtrack is superb, not only with the split-surround gunfire action
but also with the dominance of Joe Kraemer's outstanding score when key
moments are forming in Dolby Digital 5.1.
The extras begin with a 2-minute Trailer in 4;3 fullscreen, soundbites
lasting between a minute and two for many of the main actors masquerading as
Cast Interviews and brief Cast & Crew Biogs for just about everyone
important.
There are Two Audio Commentaries on this disc. One is an Isolated
Music Score with commentary from composer Joe Kraemer and the
second contains chat from both him and director Christopher McQuarrie.
The disc contains 18 chapters which isn't enough to break up all the scenes,
subtitles in English and menus with subtle animation and backed by the score.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
