The Way of the Gun
2000 film by Christopher McQuarrie
The Way of the Gun is a 2000 American neo-Western crime drama film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie in his directorial debut. Set in the Southwestern United States, the film follows two low-level criminals (Ryan Phillippe and Benicio del Toro) who kidnap a woman (Juliette Lewis) pregnant with the child of a mafia money launderer, only to find themselves facing a more complex and dangerous situation than they first realized. Taye Diggs, Nicky Katt, Scott Wilson, and James Caan play supporting roles.
The film was released on September 8, 2000, and was a minor commercial success, grossing $13 million against a production budget of $8.5 million. The critical reception was mixed, with some critics praising the acting, direction and action sequences, but criticizing the limits of the script, pacing and character development.
Plot
Parker and Longbaugh are petty criminals from Illinois who travel to New Mexico hoping for the proverbial "big score." At a sperm donation clinic, the pair overhear a telephone conversation detailing a $1 million payment to a surrogate mother. They kidnap the heavily pregnant surrogate, Robin, resulting in a shootout with her bodyguards, Jeffers and Obecks, who are arrested. Longbaugh summons Robin's gynecologist, Dr. Allen Painter, to a truck stop to examine her, and he explains that she is carrying the child of money launderer Hale Chidduck and his wife, Francesca.
Jeffers and Obecks are bailed out by Chidduck's right-hand man, Joe Sarno, and Painter is revealed to be Chidduck's son.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Way of the Gun” is 2000 film by Christopher McQuarrie. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through film, Christopher and McQuarrie, not as a finished interpretation.
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Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1693691. VIAF identifies the subject as 1159335110712960234. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 4 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Way of the Gun” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.