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 wouldn'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 .