Way of the Gun, The (UK)

One thing`s for sure, this production is held in high regard. For me personally though, it`s another one of those "critically acclaimed" movies that doesn`t entertain me the way it should.

It all starts very promisingly, the dialogue is sharp and carries a more realistic edge than we`re used to. As soon as the plot gets moving though (the kidnapping), it loses it`s way quite spectacularly and the middle third of this film is indescribably dull. I`m not saying that nobody will enjoy it, as many love the film, I`m just saying that I myself lost interest with the slow story and found the characters were too hard to identify with. There are no heroes or villains as such, it`s just a handful of selfish people in a tricky situation. It`s difficult to sympathise with any of the characters and I didn`t really care who lived or died.

There`s a superb shootout towards the end of the film (without saying what happens!) that would have been a memorable and recommendable experience if only I`d cared more about the fate`s of those involved. Overall, I found the film to be very forgettable and it doesn`t offer the quota of enjoyment that "criminal escapade" films should. Reservoir Dogs was made with the same values and ideals but Tarantino made sure it was eminently watchable too. This is very disappointing when compared to a film like that and there may be a touch of "The emperor`s new clothes" about this release. It could have been gripping, but it`s too much like a mournful drama in places and isn`t satisfying as a piece of cinema either.

The DVD is great though, a good 1.85:1 (anam) picture and the shootout sequence is rendered perfectly in 5.1. There are some worthwhile extra`s too and anyone that`s seen the movie and liked it should get this disc immediately.

Basically, I wasn`t impresed with The Way Of The Gun as a film, but the disc is of a high quality and maybe the movie isn`t my cup of tea. It has unconventional principles and doesn`t compromise for the audience. So, I`d suggest you look elsewhere if you want engrossing entertainment.

damn good film
well directed and uniformly well acted
james caan, ryan phillipe, benicio del toro and taye diggs particularly good
good commentaries
good disc

if you saw way of the gun you would think quentin tarantino
was involved but it was christopher mc quarre that gave this excellent script with tonnes of action and twists with some truly gut wrenching moments the extras arent as good as i
thought they would be,momentum should stop wasting time on 2-disc sets for films like blair witch project 2.

This is an excellent disc with some great performances from the 2 leads… however I really didn't find the film itself that entertaining. Video and audio are excellent, and we even get a nice selection of extras (although there's more on the R1 version - what a surprise!).

Overall, if you liked this film then it's a great disc… I just didn't like the film that much, that's all!