in many ways , " twotg " does for tough - guy movies what la confidential did for police stories .
there 's savviness in its writing and a mature patience in allowing the material to unfold .
but , i suppose , we would n't expect less from christopher mcquarrie , who was responsible for giving us " the usual suspects " .
his writing talents are still in tact as he brings to us a bloody yet intellectual tale of two unabashed but dimwitted thugs and a plan gone awry .
the two goons are parker and longbaugh ( ryan phillipe and benicio del toro ) .
these two men show the hardened wear of those who have always had it tough .
their troubled youths have forged two nihilistic souls who use their amazing gunplay skills to survive .
given the choice of minimum wage or petty crime , they 'll always choose the latter .
yet , they are incredibly foolish planners .
actually , these two never really have a plan .
they just improvise along the way , hoping that their bravado and arsenal of guns will take care of anything that they might have overlooked .
their next scheme , which they cook up about as fast as a mcdonald 's burger , is to kidnap some surrogate mother named robin ( juliette lewis ) that was hired by some well - to - do family .
if all goes well , they 'll receive a nice bit of ransom money and life goes on .
what parker and longbaugh do not realize is that robin is carrying a baby for the chidduck family , whose patriarch is a feared crime boss .
moreover , two bodyguards ( nicky katt and taye diggs ) constantly escort her .
these two protectors find an eerie sense of pleasure when being confronted and tested in life and death situations .
they would rather die than fail ; thus their bravado level is equally high .
but it seems that the testosterone levels of parker and longbaugh are a bit higher , and they employ some unusual but fun - to - watch tactics to pull off the kidnapping and to outrun the pursuers in a sort of slow - motion car chase down a series of alleyways .
the next hour or so , we watch the chidduck camp regroup and assess their situation .
during this time , additional plot lines come into play and more and more details are revealed .
because the chidduck 's can not go to the police and because of the special circumstances involving the kidnapping , we are introduced to more characters that will help to influence the outcome .
we discover that not everyone in the chidduck camp is loyal to the cause .
as a result , there are undercurrents of a conspiracy , and elements of betrayal and subterfuge .
the sepia - toned atmosphere is made all the more fascinating thanks to a terrific soundtrack which emits velvet forebodings , shrills of intrigue and crescendos that tell us of life and death situations that are about to occur .
the momentum and the coolness of the film , however , begins to fizzle in the last 30 minutes , which featured an overly extended shootout where our two desperados try to make their way off with the ransom money .
you can expect lots of bloodletting and an odd denouement .
in fact , you may admire this film more than you like it . yet , for the most part , " the way of the gun " stays on target .
it feels cool with its elements of conspiracy and gunplay , and smart for its invective dialogue and tough guy poetry .
Output: P