machete squad hq

I knew from day one that the day would come that I’d have to make my respect and admiration for Christopher McQuarrie’s The Way of the Gun clear.  McQuarrie, the man who wrote The Usual Suspects and has script doctored more screenplays than you’d imagine, dragged this one from concept to screenplay to production to release like a champ and despite poor returns, he succeeded.  I consider this movie my “I knew it before anyone else did” flick.  Kind of like The Boondock Saints was to so many people except ya know, not really really mediocre.

The Way of the Gun is supposed to be a sort of modern western following two drifters and petty criminals (Benicio Del Toro and Ryan Phillipe) who go by the aliases Parker and Longbaugh, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s real last names.  While donating sperm, a brilliant scene, they overhear a conversation regarding a surrogate mother being paid a cool million by an oil tycoon to carry his trophy wife’s child.  Naturally, they plan a kidnapping and subsequent 15 million dollar ransom.  What follows is one of the best choreographed gun and car sequences I’ve ever seen.  One brown colored Ford Bronco, a shit load of handguns, sawn-off shotguns, and a discreet car chase through the city streets.  It’s nutty.

From there on the film follows a trajectory that is pretty basic in one sense – the kidnapped and kidnappers trade leverage back and forth – but the ambiguity left to the characters – an intentional move as the film is meant to reference Western motifs – against the ridiculous turns the story takes makes it an interesting and exciting story to watch unfold.  It’s violent, it’s funny, and it has one of the finest casts you could assemble.  Jimmy Caan, Del Toro, Phillipe, Juliette Lewis, Taye Diggs, Nicky Katt, and Dylan Kussman all own their roles and for the easter egg types out there, Sarah Silverman pops up in the first scene…  I can’t bring myself to spoil it though, so just watch it here.

I understand why this film didn’t do well in theaters, it just doesn’t play as the sort of movie you run out and tell fifteen people they HAVE to see.  Artisan Enterainment’s decision to use the Limp Bizkit song “Break Stuff” in the trailer probably didn’t ease any second thoughts audiences may have had either…  First time you see it you are left satisfied but you don’t really have all the pieces outlined as they should.  Second time around, this one makes its assumptions clear.  I recommend this one for any one who likes watching gunfights, enjoys realistic cussing, and enjoys watching actors relish their roles.  If you don’t, 2012 should suffice.  Click.