Ever since Quentin Tarantino realised his vision with "Pulp Fiction", there have been numerous knock-offs and failed attempts to capture the same spirit that seemed so prevalant throughout his two and a half hour ground-breaker and his earlier success, "Reservoir Dogs". Film departments in every school all over the country seemed to be suddenly plagued with poorly concieved scripts about modern day hitmen living "the family life" and waxing poetic about the state of the world and their own personal philosophies or code of ethics. Everyone wanted to reproduce that same seemingly unattainable magic. "The Way of the Gun", in some ways, makes the same attempt.....with style. Fillipe and Del Toro play small-time thugs that become tired of scraping by on what they can steal or come up with using other, more "creative" methods. They hear about a woman (Lewis) who is getting paid a million bucks to be a surrogate mother. They figure if they kidnap the woman and hold the child for ransom, anyone who would pay a million dollars for a surrogate mother would certainly pay a hefty amount in order to save the child's life. Little do they know that the parents-to-be are particularly powerful individuals who are none too pleased to have to deal with the nuisance of killing such rank amateurs. Fillipe and Del Toro turn in a couple of strong performances as the thugs who turn out to be something more than just a couple of amateurs. Lewis is fantastic as the surrogate mother who simply wants to keep her child, an otherwise overdone role that she manages to breathe considerable life into. Taye Diggs is notable for his portrayal of the "ultimate bodyguard" assigned to protect the mother. In actuality, there is not a weak performance to be seen in the film. James Caan reprises the role we've seen him do numerous times before, the aging "family man". However, he sticks to what he's good at and turns in another consistantly strong performance. Overall, I found the film to be very well put together and to possess a kind of lively pulse that has been missing in this genre since Pulp Fiction. Definitely worth the price of admission, if anything can be. ------------------ Sometimes I think I'd be better off dead. No, wait, not me...you.
cool, a movie you like! I think Juliette Lewis is a good actress. Phillipe seems pretty good too, but I haven't seen a lot of his work. the trailor didn't impress me, but it should be better than a lot of the movies that have been out recently. Hey Gascon, do you know if there will be any good horror movies (is that an oxymoron or what? ) around halloween time? ------------------ I am so exasperated that I could expectorate.
Crisco, No, I'm afraid not. Not unless you're looking forward to "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2". Which I am not, by the way. There is another installment of "Urban Legends" coming out. That should be a real gem. I am, however, interested to see "The Exorcist" with the added footage. That should be fun. Don't take the trailor for "The Way of the Gun" at face value. I didn't like the looks of it, either. I had zero expectations going into the film, and that simply helped me enjoy it all the more. Phillipe was terrible in "Cruel Intentions" and adequate in "54". However, he was good in "Playing By Heart" and he is really good in "The Way of the Gun". Check it out. Let me know what you think. ------------------ Sometimes I think I'd be better off dead. No, wait, not me...you.
I'll probably see it, but I don't know when. There is a pretty good dollar movie theater here, so I usually just wait till movies come out there unless its a movie that I just HAVE to see. If I'm gonna pay almost 20 bucks for a movie, it better be a damn good one, I figure. 3 bucks is a fair exchange for a lot of the crappy movies I've seen. I am loathe to admit it, but I actually enjoyed cruel intentions. I also had no expectations going in, I didn't even know what it was about, but it turned out all right for me. It seems like those are some of the better movies, the ones that create an aura of low expectations. Movies with too much hype *cough* Blair Witch *cough* usually succeed in dissappointment. I don't think I'll ever want to watch CI again though, which is the mark of a great movie to me. ------------------ I am so exasperated that I could expectorate.
Got my two thumbs up....it was definitly worth it(saw it opening night). Has everything a good movie needs....the trailer does no justice to it...good reason to be excited about it was the fact that the director of it was the director of "The Unusual Suspects" Good movie =) Enjoy ------------------
Does anyone have any idea what the extra scenes on The Exorcist are??? I haven't heard anything about this until recently. Ashamed to admit it, but I liked Cruel Intentions too. But maybe that was just Sarah Michelle Gellar's effect...she's easy on the eyes! ------------------
Crisco and Max, I despised Cruel Intentions because it was a bad knock-off of "Dangerous Liasons." However, I'm a big fan of Glenn Close and John Malkovich. DI may not be your ball of wax, but you should check it some night when you have nothing to do and see if you like it. The performances are phenomenal. Gascon ------------------ Sometimes I think I'd be better off dead. No, wait, not me...you.
