SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: THE WAY OF THE GUN

"THE WAY OF THE GUN"
(2000) (Benicio Del Toro, Ryan Phillippe) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Extreme	Extreme	*Extreme	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Heavy	Mild	Extreme	Mild	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	Moderate	Mild	Moderate	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Drama/Suspense/Thriller: Two smalltime career criminals get far more than they bargained for when they kidnap the pregnant surrogate mother to a wealthy couple.

PLOT:

Parker (RYAN PHILLIPPE) and Longbaugh (BENICIO DEL TORO) are longtime criminal partners who've grown tired of "making a living" through petty crime, contract hits and even the occasional sperm donation. It's during the latter when they overhear information that will be the catalyst for their potentially most lucrative crime yet.

It seems that a certain young woman, Robin (JULIETTE LEWIS), have agreed to be the surrogate mother for a well-to-do Southwestern "businessman," Hale Chidduck (SCOTT WILSON), and his younger trophy wife, Francesca (KRISTIN LEHMAN).

Being the opportunists they are, Parker and Longbaugh figure they can kidnap Robin and demand a hefty ransom. After a violent gun battle with two of Chidduck's bodyguards, Jeffers (TAYE DIGGS) and Obecks (NICKY KATT), they do just that. Yet, when they call in Robins' obstetrician, Dr. Allen Painter (DYLAN KUSSMAN), they learn the harsh reality of their situation.

It turns out that Chidduck is a ruthless and powerful criminal himself, a man with enough money and connections to get anything he wants done. As such, he assigns Joe Sarno (JAMES CAAN), a professional and highly efficient "bag man," to take care of the problem and leave no loose ends.

With Parker and Longbaugh taking Robin to a remote Mexican town, Sarno and his longtime associate, Abner (GEOGGREY LEWIS), set out to find the kidnapers and resolve the situation. With the various involved parties jockeying to gain the upper hand, it soon becomes evident that everyone's intentions aren't what they seem, all of which leads to a dramatic and violent conclusion.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Due to the "cool" characters and violence, the film will appeal mostly to male teens, but those who are fans of anyone in the cast may also want to see the film as well.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For strong violence/gore, language and some sexuality.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: Considering what occurs in the film (the violence, profanity, criminal behavior and surrogate motherhood for criminals in exchange for a large sum of money, etc.), it's doubtful many, if any, parents would consider any of the characters here as good role models.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a quick look at the content found in this R-rated film. Violence is listed as extreme due to various, massive gun battles resulting in numerous injuries and deaths, many of which are extremely bloody (which also describes a graphic C-section performed in a seedy motel room). Those scenes and others may be unsettling, disturbing and/or suspenseful to viewers, and most every character in the film is a criminal or involved in criminal or other less then reputable behavior.

Profanity is rated as extreme due to the use of more than 50 "f" words, while characters spout other expletives and colorful phrases as well. Some sexually explicit dialogue is also present, as is some implied sex, a scene set in a sperm donor clinic and some brief nudity. Various characters also smoke and drink.

Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to take a closer look at our detailed content listings for specific examples of what occurs in the film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: An older man has a bottle of booze in front of him.
Francesca pours cocktails for herself and her husband.
Some locals in a Mexican town have beer in several scenes.
Parker and Longbaugh have liquor while trying to figure out what to do next.

BLOOD/GORE: A woman's face is bloody after being punched, while both Parker and Longbaugh's faces are rather bloody after repeatedly being kicked in a fight.
We see several bodies on the street after a gun battle and see a large amount of blood next to one of the victim's heads.
We see Dr. Painter stitching up his own bloody eyebrow (and we also see some blood on a men's room towel and the doctor's shirt).
Later, a little bit of blood runs from Painter's wound above his eyebrow (and the bandage on the cut is a bit soaked in blood).
A man has some blood on the back of his clothing after being shot.
A man's hands are bloody as he's tortured in a makeshift rack.
We see some blood on Robin's upper inner thigh from complications with her pregnancy.
We see a man whose clothing (bottom half of shirt, top of pants) is extremely bloody as he sits in a car after having been shot.
We see a partial view of Dr. Painter performing a C-section on Robin on a motel bed (including his hand inside her cut open abdomen). Consequently, the sheets around her and his gloved hands and shirt are extremely bloody.
A man who's shot is bloody.
Blood repeatedly squirts/gushes out of a man's neck after he's shot.
Another massive gun battle breaks out where various people are shot and wounded or killed (with bloody results on the victims and their surroundings). During this, a person also dives into an empty courtyard fountain only to land on various shards of broken bottles (resulting in extremely bloody cuts and shards of glass sticking out of his arm - that he must pull out).

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Parker and Longbaugh are lifelong criminals who kidnap a pregnant woman and kill many people along the way (they also steal a vehicle and Longbaugh shoplifts).
Francesca and Jeffers appear to be having an affair.
The two bodyguards conspire to kill others and take the money for themselves.
We learn that Robin is being paid $1 million to have the baby for Chidduck and his wife, whom she knows to be criminals.
Sarno works as a "bag man" for Chidduck (illegally taking care of/cleaning up his problems).

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may also be disturbing, tense or suspenseful to some viewers, especially to those with low tolerance levels for violent and bloody gunplay.
Jeffers and Obecks suspect something while escorting Robin from her doctor's office and thus pull out their guns. Parker and Longbaugh then pull theirs and all four point their guns at each other, with one of the bodyguards even pointing his gun at Robin's pregnant belly (while Longbaugh holds his gun to her head). This goes on for a bit until the would-be kidnapers slowly back off.
A man tries to commit suicide via a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, but the gun he uses has an empty round when he fires it.
Robin stumbles around a rundown Mexican motel in pain from her pregnancy. We later see blood around her crotch/thigh from complications, and the sight of Dr. Painter performing a C-section on her, along with the sounds of her screaming in pain (under gunpoint and on a motel bed) might be more than some will be able to bear.
Parker and Longbaugh slowly make their way, armed, through that motel looking for Jeffers. The ensuing gun battles and cat and mouse scenes will probably be tense and suspenseful to many viewers.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Handguns/Shotguns/Machine guns/Sniper Rifle: Used to threaten, wound or kill people. See "Violence" for details.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "F*ck you up," "Get the f*ck out," "What the f*ck are you doing?" "F*ck up," "F*cking yahoos," "F*ck me," "F*ck you," "Dumbf*ck," "F*ckheads," "You f*cking moron," "Who the f*ck are you?" "D*ckless," "What are you retarded?" "Faggot," "Bitch," "Jerking off" (nonsexual), "Idiots," "Cover your ass" (also referred to as "CYA") and "Chapping my ass."
It's possible impressionable teens could get the idea to kidnap someone for a ransom, and some may want to imitate the "cool" characters and their violent/criminal behavior.
Longbaugh steals a vehicle and then shoplifts in a store.
A man tries to commit suicide via a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, but the gun he uses has an empty round when he fires it.
We see that the kidnappers have rigged up a shotgun attached to a string around their motel door (so that if someone opens the door, the shotgun will fire at them).

JUMP SCENES: During a quiet and somewhat tense scene, the sudden loud sound of a truck might startle some viewers.
The sudden sound of a loud gunshot might likewise startle viewers.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): An extreme amount of ominous, suspenseful and action-oriented suspense music plays during the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): A song playing on the radio in one scene has the lyrics "maybe I'll just kill myself instead" (the scene involves a character attempting to shoot himself in the head - but he isn't successful).

PROFANITY: At least 53 "f" words (4 used sexually), 6 "s" words, 5 slang terms for/using male genitals ("c*ck," "c*cks*cker," "d*ck"), 2 slang terms using female genitals ("c*nt"), 8 asses (1 used with "hole"), 1 damn, 3 uses of "G-damn," 2 each of "For Christ's sakes," "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ" and 1 use of "For God's sakes" and "Oh my God" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: A woman in line at a club verbally taunts Parker and Longbaugh by asking, "Do you like to ass f*ck? Do you f*ck baby heads? Do you f*ck boys? We're gonna f*ck you in the ass. How do you like that?"
In voice over narration, Parker tells us about his and Longbaugh's situation and during so mentions "A shot of cum - three grand." We then see various miscellaneous men at a sperm donor facility where they walk by carrying porno magazines as well as Parker and Longbaugh being interviewed as potential donors. Later, we see a picture in one of those magazines that shows a wet woman holding her bare breasts (we see the complete side of them as well as her bare butt).
Francesca makes out with Jeffers, telling him that she could have a baby with him, the natural way.
We learn that Robin apparently had sex with someone else to get pregnant.
In a motel presumably used for prostitution, we briefly see a sleeping man's bare butt (as he sleeps face down next to a hooker who's awake).

SMOKING: Both Longbaugh and Joe smoke at least five times each, while Obecks smokes once, as do various miscellaneous/background characters.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: A man and his adult son have a strained relationship.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: The violence, the way in which it's portrayed and whether or not it's really much different from that found in other similarly themed/plotted films.
Kidnapping.
Surrogate mothers and women who do that for payment.

VIOLENCE: Some people at a club verbally attack Parker and Longbaugh for sitting on their car. After more profanities and threats are exchanged, the two sides are ready to fight. One man dares Parker to throw the first punch, so Parker does, but punches a woman (who was taunting him the most) in the face. A big fight then breaks out with Parker and Longbaugh ending up lying on the parking lot with many people kicking them (with both sides being bloody).
Parker and Longbaugh get into a standoff with Jeffers and Obecks, with each aiming their guns at the others and Robin who's being held hostage by Longbaugh.
We hear a massive gun battle outside and then eventually see it, with Parker and Longbaugh firing handguns and shotguns at others, with several bodies lying on the street. As the two escape with Robin, more shots are fired.
Parker and Longbaugh open fire on Jeffers and Obecks again and then ram their vehicle into the bodyguards' car, slightly injuring them. Parker walks up and acts as if he's going to shoot them, but doesn't.
Longbaugh breaks a car's window to get in and steal the car.
Parker pistol-whips Dr. Painter and then holds his gun on him.
Chidduck backhands Painter, pushes him against a wall and then holds his forearm to his neck.
Obecks pinches Painter's neck.
Joe grabs Painter and pushes him back against a wall.
Robin fires a shotgun blast through a motel door, as Longbaugh holds his gun to Parker's chin.
A sniper opens fire on a small group of people, dropping a cop, and several others appear to be hit. Jeffers then returns fire with his handgun.
Parker and Longbaugh torture a man (who screams in agony) by stretching his body with their makeshift rack (while threatening to do other things such as pulling his fingernails out and pouring gasoline into his eyes - which don't occur).
We see a man whose clothing (bottom half of shirt, top of pants) is extremely bloody as he sits in a car after having been shot.
A massive gun battle breaks out (featuring handguns, shotguns and a machine gun) in a motel.
A man is shot dead.
Blood repeatedly squirts/gushes out of a man's neck after he's shot.
Longbaugh shoots someone in the foot and we then hear him finish the job off camera.
Another massive gun battle breaks out where various people are shot and wounded or killed (with bloody results). During this, a person also dives into an empty courtyard fountain only to land on various shards of broken bottles (resulting in extremely bloody cuts and shards of glass sticking out of his arm).

Reviewed July 31, 2000 / Posted September 8, 2000

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