Suspect device

>> Christopher McQuarrie delivers the noir with The Way of the Gun

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

It's difficult not to feel a little let down by The Way of the Gun, directorial debut of Christopher McQuarrie. He is, after all, the man responsible for the script of Bryan Singer's mystery The Usual Suspects. Given that film's impact, its remarkable wrangling of convoluted hints and red herrings, one can rightfully relegate The Way of the Gun to the ranks of standard crime noir by comparison.

Once there, though, it sits high on the heap. Look past the clichés: the lame-duck title, the obvious Mexican desert setting, the copious hot lead and the cold, inexorable morality/mortality that insists on any noir scenario's characters "getting what's coming to them." What one finds is a yarn devoid of heroes and villains, altruism, cartoonish cruelty or melodramatic passion--in other words, a yarn that rings all-too-humanly true.

Briefly stated, the story revolves around a pair of thugs (Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro) who kidnap the surrogate mother of a shady millionaire's future son. The hounds are released, albeit with dubious motivations of their own. Even the mother (Juliette Lewis) has a few cards up her sleeve.

The Way of the Gun doesn't offer the painstakingly detailed jigsaw puzzle that The Usual Suspects laid on moviegoers back in '94. It does, however, benefit from a lean, economic style--not a word of dialogue is superfluous. There are twists, betrayals and revelations, many of which can be seen coming from a good distance. Their arrival is smooth and natural, though, as is the pacing of the film.

Aside from getting McQuarrie behind the camera, the film also spotlights actor Del Toro. This is notable in that he's familiar if not immediately recognizable. Remember the scarecrow-thin Fenster in Usual Suspects? Now recall the bloated hulk who was Hunter Thompson's drug-crazed lawyer in Fear and Loathing. Currently in a middleweight state, Del Toro delivers a good turn here, as does the barrel-chested James Caan as the millionaire's grizzled bagman.

True, the film doesn't match up to The Usual Suspects. With a simple two-word sentence that puts it all in perspective, though, it delivers a wicked final twist. That seems to be something McQuarrie's good at.

The Way of the Gun opens Friday, Sept. 8