(Rated R)
Academy Award winning screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie (The Usual Suspects) makes his directorial debut in this twisting crime drama about two cold-blooded career criminals who kidnap a surrogate mother and find themselves in an escalating cycle of guns and mayhem. Having not been a “Usual Suspect” fan and even less of “Reservoir Dogs” this may have been a cinema masterpiece had it been released prior to so many “Pulp Fiction” copy cats. Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro do an applaudable job as the drifting longtime partners who abduct Juliette Lewis in connection with a sperm bank, as she’s being paid one million dollars to bear the child of an industrial tycoon. The story rests on not only dealing with well-armed opponents, but also their own conflicted emotions. James Caan, Taye Diggs and Nicky Katt portray some of the big wig associates involved in the mayhem. The acting is credible, the dialog is slightly worse than the pacing and characters unsympathetic, but there are certain audiences who love this stuff. Glad you know who you are.
