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 .
