“Way of the Gun” Trivia from Director Christopher McQuarrie!

I recently posted about my love for Way of the Gun.  It’s got a great cast and was written/directed by Christopher McQuarrie.  If you haven’t seen it you might want to give it a try.

Rob Hunter, at Film School Rejects, posted 28 Things We Learned from Christopher McQuarrie’s ‘The Way of the Gun’ Commentary.  As usual, before you click over, here are three of my favorites and thoughts to go with each…

McQuarrie was “very resistant” to casting Phillippe, but the actor wouldn’t take no without the opportunity for a meeting. (When McQuarrie asked Phillippe why he wanted to be in his small film instead of a higher profile project, Phillippe’s response that he wanted to be an actor, not a movie star was classic!  I love Phillippe’s persistence and attitude towards his craft. – Craig)

The kidnapping scene sees lots of collateral in the form of dead or wounded people in both the foreground and background. McQuarrie points out the couple in the car at 17:43 — “a guy crying over his dead wife with three bullets in the windshield” — and says it’s all meant to leave viewers questioning who their loyalty is aimed towards. (One of the things I really like about Way of the Gun is that the two leads aren’t movie star bad guys.  You know, bad guys that are really good at heart or misunderstood.  These guys aren’t heroes. – Craig)

“The character is a survivor,” said James Caan about his character Joe Sarno, “I want to show what he survived.” The result was a highlighting of the scars on his face and neck. (There are a lot of great lines in Way of the Gun and James Caan’s character gets his fair share.  One of my favorites: “The only thing you can guess about a broken down old man is that he is a survivor.” – Craig)