The Way of the Gun Blu-ray offers solid video and audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
Longtime partners Parker and Longbaugh are hoping for a quick and nonviolent payoff when
they abduct Robin, a young woman carrying the child of a wealthy Southwestern couple. But
kidnapping proves to be much more complicated, logistically and psychologically, than other
felonies they've committed. Parker is increasingly drawn to the mysterious Robin, whose
imminent delivery date awakens strong feelings in him. Tensions rise between Parker and
Longbaugh, a ruthlessly decisive man who knows Parker's sentimental impulses could land
them in big trouble. As the moment for the ransom exchange approaches, Parker and
Longbaugh must battle not only well-armed opponents, but also their own conflicted emotions
As much as I appreciate everything Quentin Tarantino has done to inspire modern filmmakers, I don't think I can stomach many more imitators. For every exception, there are literally dozens of cinematic miscarriages all too desperate to cling to the Pulp Fiction auteur's every shot and quip. Hell Ride, 3000 Miles to Graceland, American Strays, Truth or Consequences, NM and countless others have practically made Tarantino a genre unto himself. But it takes more than eccentric gunmen, chatty gangsters, a neo-noir story, and a slew of pop culture references to make a good movie; more than blood-spattered faces and tense Mexican standoffs to lure audiences into yet another grisly crime caper. With that we come to writer/director Christopher McQuarrie's The Way of the Gun, an over-spiced gumbo beset with issues. Granted, it boasts strong performances and several good ideas -- enough to make it stand out from other genre pics -- but it fails to unite its more eclectic elements into a satisfying, cohesive whole.
Eyeing the prize...
Mr. Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Mr. Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro) aren't the sort of gentlemen you invite to dinner. Petty criminals and ruthless killers, the pair are loyal to a fault and deadly at the trigger, kidnapping a pregnant woman named Robin (Juliette Lewis) the moment a fifteen million dollar payday presents itself. Their plan naturally meets with heavy resistance, particularly when her bodyguards, Jeffers (Taye Diggs) and Obecks (Nicky Katt), brandish their own skills as gunmen and trackers. A bloody game of cat-and-mouse ensues as the baby's father, a wealthy gangster named Mr. Chidduck (Scott Wilson) who will stop at nothing to recover what's rightfully his, sends a seasoned bagman (James Caan) and an open faucet of henchmen to bring an end to Mr. Parker and Mr. Longbaugh's exploits. Brain matter meets walls, cesarean sections get messy, shootouts erupt in the streets, and criminal pleasantries are exchanged, all in the service of a sprawling storyline that gets unnecessarily complicated as the enterprising drifters hurtle towards McQuarrie's admittedly engrossing finale. It's overwrought and hyperstylized, albeit confidently so; it's brash and jarring, but strangely absorbing on its own terms.
Arriving just four years after his screenplay for The Usual Suspects earned him abundant critical acclaim and a well-deserved award from the Academy, McQuarrie's The Way of the Gun plays like a bitter action-thriller cobbled together to exact revenge on a room of nameless stuffed shirts. A little digging reveals McQuarrie's first and last directorial effort is just that, a frustrated artist's shot across the bow of Hollywood and the Studio System at large. Perhaps if its script were as sharp and serrated as the imagery that accompanies it, more people would have taken notice. As is, it tends to flail and lurch like an angry boxer swinging for a target a pair of swollen eyes are preventing him from seeing. Violence is doled out for violence's sake, not for the benefit of the story. Key scenes push the boundaries of taste for no other reason than to shock and appall. Characters are unlikable wretches simply because decency and humanity has been left few places to reside. It's hard to believe The Way of the Gun came from the same deliberate mind that gave cinefiles the measured masterpiece that is director Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects. When tempered by a talented filmmaker, McQuarrie's work shines. When handled in house, it suffers from over-indulgence and unkempt savagery.
That being said, there's a certain indescribable appeal in a film that shrugs off convention and goes for the genre jugular. The Way of the Gun comes alive whenever Del Toro and Phillippe take center stage. The matter-of-fact approach they inject into their characters' dastardly deeds is compelling; the unwavering brotherhood they create even more so. Whether walking a car down an alleyway mid-gun battle or coolly chatting with Caan's bagman (the only other fascinating character that graces and elevates the film), their Parker and Longbaugh are captivating leads and their immersion in their roles is commendable. Without Del Toro or Phillippe, McQuarrie's sweat-stained crime opus would be a far lesser film. Had he found a way to make his villains and victim engaging in the slightest, The Way of the Gun might have resonated with me more than it did. Alas, every time the camera left Parker and Longbaugh to follow Diggs, Katt, Wilson... really anyone other than Caan, I became somewhat disenchanted with McQuarrie's cumbersome tale. An intense third act and several gratifying gunfights definitely help, vaulting the film above average, but little else is as evocative, intriguing, or meaty as its best scenes suggest it should be. Potential is the key word here and McQuarrie squanders it more often than he grabs hold of it. Ultimately, it's a solid rental, but at such a bargain-bin price, probably worth a blind buy.
Gooooood morning, DNR! While not nearly as debilitating as the noise reduction Lionsgate utilized for the recent Blu-ray release of Frailty, Way of the Gun's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer suffers from a slight waxiness that leaves Del Toro and Phillippe looking as if they fell asleep in the makeup chair. Grain has been subdued, sure, but finer textures have inadvertently been scrubbed away, lending the presentation an artificial appearance that's sometimes at odds with McQuarrie's style. Otherwise, everything is as it should be. Director of photography Dick Pope's palette is strong and stable, blacks are reasonably well-resolved (minus a few nighttime mishaps) and contrast, though inconsistent over the course of the film, is strong. Depth and dimensionality are lacking, but I suspect the original photography is the culprit. Likewise, detail and definition waver on occasion but are impressive enough overall to rule out any major technical issues (DNR notwithstanding). To the encoders' credit, artifacting and crush are nowhere to be seen, edge enhancement is kept to a minimum, and other digital anomalies are rarely a distraction. So where does that leave fans of the film? Once you factor in its bargain bin price and the fact that it offers a significant upgrade over its muddy DVD counterpart, the answer practically presents itself.
While the Blu-ray edition of The Way of the Gun arrives packing a hefty DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track, the results are less dramatic than you might expect. For a flick loaded with tense shootouts and bloody gunfights, the mix doesn't sound as full and weighty as it should. LFE output is decent but restrained, rear speaker activity is convincing but rarely enveloping, and dynamics are adequate but sometimes underwhelming. Still, effects are clean and clear, pans are smooth, and dialogue, aside from a few scenes, remains intelligible and neatly prioritized throughout. It's worth noting that directionality is somewhat limited by the film's original sound design -- which tends to be two-dimensional whenever Parker and Longbaugh's weapons are holstered -- but it doesn't detract from the experience, especially since lengthy conversations play such a crucial role. Don't get me wrong, the track isn't a complete wash and actually sounds pretty good for a now-decade-old catalog title. It just isn't the lossless 7.1 monster I was hoping for.
Unfortunately, Lionsgate opted to leave quite a few special features from the previously released DVD on the cutting room floor, among them a behind-the-scenes featurette, storyboards for a deleted scene, and other secondary content. It certainly isn't a huge loss, especially considering the bulk of the material has been retained, but it is disappointing nonetheless. What remains? A pair of fairly extensive audio commentaries -- one with writer/director Christopher McQuarrie and composer Joe Kraemer, and an isolated score track with Kraemer -- an all-too-brief collection of cast and crew interviews (SD, 2 minutes), a TV spot (SD, 1 minute), and the film's theatrical trailer (SD, 2 minutes). The commentaries are obviously the big guns on the disc (despite the fact that Kraemer's solo track is a bit repetitive at times) and McQuarrie does a fine job candidly detailing the production, the challenges he faced, his vision and his script, the time he spent on set with the actors, and the style and imagery he employed. All in all, the supplemental package could have been a lot better, but it also could have been a lot worse.
The Way of the Gun is an interesting film; a mesmerizing whirlwind of grit and blood when it works, a Tarantino-toned misfire when it doesn't. While it benefits from a solid script and memorable characters, a number of bizarre decisions overload the story and undermine the potency of the performances. Lionsgate's Blu-ray release is just as hit-or-miss. Its video transfer isn't very remarkable, its DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track comes up short, and its supplemental package, despite offering two strong commentaries, is missing features from the previously released DVD. Regardless, its low price takes all of the risk out of a purchase. Hate it? Eh, pass it off to someone else. Love it? Congrats, your eight dollars was well spent.
Lionsgate Home Entertainment is set to release no fewer than eight catalog titles on Blu-ray on November 24. Apart from 'Air America', which we already told you about, the studio has slated the following titles: 'Angel Heart', 'Cujo: 25th Anniversary Edition', ...
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