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The Way of the Gun
Metascore
49 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 30
  3. Negative: 6 out of 30
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  1. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Peter Brunette
    80
    If you're interested in heavy-lidded moodiness and lots of attitude, Phillippe and Del Toro can't be beat.
  2. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Gemma Files
    80
    A tiny slice of bleak, black near-perfection.
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    80
    May feel redundant, but it is stylish and intelligent.
  4. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    80
    It's good fun for bad boys.
  5. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    78
    All the players deliver performances that kill.
  6. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Andy Seiler
    75
    Gives new meaning to the phrase "not for the squeamish."
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    75
    Plays like an unusually ritzy festival circuit audition film, though McQuarrie, it must be said, aces the audition.
  8. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    70
    Way of the Gun is a self-consciously American odyssey.
  9. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    There's a good story buried somewhere in this melee.
  10. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    63
    What pulls us along through the inky shoals of The Way of the Gun? Sheer style, plus the movie's refusal to play nice.
  11. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    63
    Sporadically engrossing in a pulpy kind of way.
  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    A confused, empty, only occasionally funny mess of a movie.
  13. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    63
    Falters seriously is its too-leisurely pacing.
  14. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    63
    So many characters to keep track of, so little time!
  15. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    63
    Sometimes trips over its own contrivance, especially at the ammo-ridden end.
  16. Variety
    Reviewed by: Emanuel Levy
    60
    Each of the talented thesps has some good moments, but, ultimately, none can rise above the limitations of the material and filmmaking.
  17. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Kim Morgan
    58
    A movie that drags.
  18. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    50
    A misfire.
  19. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    50
    Edgy, hard-boiled crime drama that is very much in this Tarantino-esque tradition.
  20. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    42
    An empty, affected exercise, executed with just enough style to make you wish McQuarrie had a motive beyond his own career.
  21. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Frank Lovece
    40
    In the end the film has absolutely nothing to say.
  22. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Steve Mikulan
    40
    Isn't a bad film, but as we watch it we're constantly rewriting it in our minds to make it a better one.
  23. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    40
    This film is no "Usual Suspects," because there is no twist, no gotcha.
  24. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    40
    An implement of destruction loaded with more borrowed film riffs than could be compiled by 47 clones of Robert Rodriguez..
  25. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Stack
    25
    Rotten, pretentious movie full of minimalist dialogue and self-consciously arty cinematography.
  26. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    25
    As ugly, excessive and vulgar as "The Usual Suspects" was stylish, subtle and suave.
  27. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    20
    Doesn't deliver an ounce of charm.
    All this critic's reviews
  28. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    20
    What aims at being terrifying is just loud and goofy.
  29. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Mary Elizabeth Williams
    10
    The directorial debut of the writer of "The Usual Suspects" keeps tossing the genre hand grenades one might expect, but they all wind up duds.
  30. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    10
    A lot of uninteresting and unpleasant people torture, abuse, and fire guns at a lot of other uninteresting and unpleasant people, in a repulsive, interminable would-be crime thriller.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.2 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. ApocalypseBrown
    9
    What makes me sick is when critics love **** films and pan excellent ones! Fortunately this follows in that tradition. This film will give you what you want to take from it - from violence, intrigue, warmth and humor, it packs it all. And considering the emotional ride it takes the viewer on, it is easy to over-looked its small yet silly faults. Ok Caan and the lover of Juliette Lewis (Dr dude) performances weren't memorable, but the rest of the cast coupled with the slow yet tense car chase scene and the dramatic shoot-outs leave you almost breathless. I am not a critic who is paid to give bad scores, so nine reflects the quality of this venture! 'What you gonna tell God now'?… Full Review »
  2. KrisA.
    10
    Great action movie. Exciting all the way through, and it has my favourite opening scene of all time. Watch the first scene if nothing else.
  3. PhilN.
    8
    I love this film... it has its flaws, but I honestly can't see why it is so underrated. The principle characters are despicable and there's no justification for their actions... that's partly the point of the film, and is - to me - an honest and realistic way to depict violence (far preferable to action movies in which we're asked to forget, forgive or applaud the various deaths the protagonists cause), yet it seems to be a common criticism of this film. I just don't understand that way of thinking. It seems to me the intentional coldness and amorality seen in this movie is way out of fashion now - had it appeared in the 70s, would it have been a classic like Point Blank? The film has some truly excellent dialogue (and non-verbal communication), but it has to be said that McQuarrie got a bit carried away at times and some of the lines are just too oblique to be understood or too "clever" to be believable. And, while their motivation is clear, Parker & Longbaugh's tactics in the final action scene are questionable, their approach somewhat less intelligent than we should expect from them. But in my opinion these are negligible flaws next to the film's strengths - not least, some of the finest firefights ever filmed. All performances from biggest to smallest are absolutely spot-on, and the score is wonderful. I would say, if you're a fan of 70s films like The Getaway or Bullit that are appreciated for their bleak and unpleasant qualities, then you'll probably get a kick out of Way Of The Gun. I wish there were more crime/action movies like it.… Full Review »
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