"Way of the Gun" is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie who wrote the critically acclaimed "Usual Suspects". This is his first turn as director and it shows he has learned a lot from friend and "X-Men" director Bryan Singer.

"Way of the Gun" stars Ryan Phillippe and Bencio Del Toro as two modern day desperadoes who are very down on their luck. While trying to round up some cash at a sperm bank the twosome over hear that a millionaire is using a surrogate mother (Juliette Lewis) to have his much desired heir. The two decide to kidnap the surrogate for money. After the kidnapping, the desperadoes are chased by the millonaire's bodyguards and bagmen lead by James Caan and Taye Diggs. The plot thickens when the questions are thrown around who are the baby's actual parents.

"Gun" has the flash and style of both Sam Peckinpah and Quentin Tarrantino. The gun battles are fresh and original and are the worth the price of admission. In a lot of the scenes you can feel the power of the bullet's impact and trust me there are a lot of impacts. These battles and square offs are great. I liked the final 40 minutes which reminded me a lot of the good old westerns of yesteryear except this time people actually get shot and the characters feel the pain. I also liked the twisting plot which McQuarrie seems to have mastered with his scripts. I liked the majority of the leads performances who made the plot flow. I also liked the realism of the ending which was justified.

My biggest problem with "Gun" was the whole aspect of the surrogate mother and dragging a pregnant woman through an action film. It is imaginative to have this angle and twist the plot into who exactly are the infant's parents but Lewis does get in the way a lot with her over the top performance. I think the film would have been more interesting if the millionaire has an illegitimate daughter who was kidnapped. They could still twist the angles by making us wonder if the daughter is actually the millionaire's. Just an idea.

(3.5 of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.

"Mr. Parker" and "Mr. Longbaugh" hastily plan their last big score, the kidnapping of a wealthy couple's surrogate mother. If they could have seen the death, despair, betrayal, and greed that would follow perhaps they would have reconsidered their plan. With $15 million one could buy and sell men's souls and in The Way of The Gun that is exactly what happens.

Plot: Scribe Christopher McQuarrie penned the Academy Award winning film The Usual Suspects and five years later he gives American Audiences The Way of the Gun. Let me get one thing out of the way, The Way of the Gun is NOT The Usual Suspects. Gun does not share the same kind of suspense, intrigue, and (most importantly) originality that Suspects did. But, the film's still share magnetic dialogue and confusion character relationships. The Way of the Gun is not a bad script, but it lacks the bleeding-edge bite The Usual Suspects had. The film almost seems to be wannabe picture that steals elements from other gritty pictures (Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Reservoir Dogs, etc.) The script overall was a sufficient effort, but hopefully McQuarrie's next picture (The Prisoner) will be more akin to Suspects. ***1/2(out of five)

Acting: "Ryan Phillippe? A bad guy?" you say. Needless to say beating his pretty-boy image and playing a gritty evil man was quite the challenge for Phillippe. And he almost did it...almost. Even with his unshaven look Phillippe still looked and acted like Phillippe. It was very hard for me to believe that realistically this guy on the screen would be in this business. "What happened to the modeling career, Ryan!?!" I yell at the screen...under my breath of course. Benicio Del Toro, on the other hand, fit the look for the seasoned criminal Mr. Longbaugh which was a welcome relief. The Way of the Gun is the first fully evil role Taye Diggs has played to date (on screen anyway...he played the evil landlord on the stage play Rent) and he had me convinced. But, the true shining star of the bunch was James Caan whose riveting performance as the aging hitman made the rest of the cast look good. ***1/2(out of five)

Directing: Writer/Director Christopher McQuarrie is no Bryan Singer (Director of The Usual Suspects), he's no Quentin Tarentino (Pulp Fiction), perhaps it's for the better. McQuarrie's director style is eerily reminiscent of the two other directors mentioned above, but a true original vision is slightly hidden amongst the blatantly stolen shots. Every now and then there is a brief peak at what McQuarrie's true potential is, most notably is the entire final gun battle scene. A scene that speaks of raw indifference and human loss through the visual STYLE opposed to the actual visuals, quite impressive actually. Unfortunately, the whole film isn't quite as impressive. Mediocre at best, wished there was more, I truly do. ***(out of five)

Music: Joe Kraemer, whose previous composer work only adds up to one film (Burn), is a surprisingly talented composer. A refreshing change from recent films: composing skill. Kraemer's score speaks the major themes of Betrayal, Greed, and Loyalty through the notes of his music. Plus, the score contains a reoccurring musical theme for certain people and events that help lead the audience through the sometimes confusing script. ****(out of five)

Special Effects: This film is obvious not a big-budget effects. In the realm of visual effects the films most astonishing work is in relatively easy compositing and film clean-up. Of course it's not only difficulty that determines a good job its also the quality of the work. The few effects shots in this are done to absolute perfection. No one will even give them a second thought and in a way this is a good thing. The practical gore and blood effects are done to "expected" precision, not quite up to the Fight Club standing of horribly realistic gore effects. To sum up: mediocre. ***(out of five)

Bottom Line: The Way of the Gun will most likely go down as a case of too little too late. It just isn't good enough to stand on its own during the often financially dry fall season. See only if you are really bored and need something to do on the weekend. It's almost worth the whole ticket price. ***1/2(out of five)