karrguyy
Three stars only because of the performance by Slaine as Nick's friend. This movie is comically bad. Every time you see the lead character he is either lighting a cigarette (he lights no fewer than 5 cigarettes in the opening scenes alone), or tossing a long, freshly lit cigarette out a car window. It almost seems as if somebody in production decided Nick looks good with a full Marlboro 120, but not with one that is half smoked. If it didn't mean sitting through this mud again, I'd love to go back and see exactly how many times a cigarette is lit by either Nick one of the other one dimensional wannabe gangster characters. At any given time somebody is flipping open an old school zippo and doing a Fonzarello routine lighting his smoke. The only saving grace in this film is the performance by Slaine as Nick's best friend. This guy is extremely watchable in this role (and lights up the screen instead of a smoke).
Tss5078
When a man takes the oath to become a made guy in the Mafia, he promises to put the family before anything else. For most gangsters, this never becomes an issue, but for Nick Tortano (Ben Barnes) it becomes the basis for an impossible decision. A series of events lead Tortano into having to decide between his new family and his old one. Either choice means that someone he loves will become a target, and he has to decide, who in his life is the most expendable. Most films about the Mafia follow a very specific pattern, leading people to say all these films are the same. There is some truth to that, but By The Gun is certainly an exception. The film follows a new member is a small family and the story told from his point of view, giving us a very different look at La Costa Nostra. Ben Barnes stars in one of his first leading roles and was outstanding. Barnes, mostly recognized as an ancillary character from the Chronicles of Narnia series, finally steps into the spotlight and shows that he has what it takes to star. I was impressed with the story and setting of this film, but I wasn't crazy about the cast, in fact, there were several actors who really brought the quality of this movie down, but Ben Barnes wasn't one of them. His performance really added some legitimacy to this film and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be recommending it at all. By The Gun is not your typical Mafia movie, because Nick Tortano isn't your typical gangster. He has a conscience that comes into conflict with his life of crime at every turn and watching him decide the fate of everyone he loves was really something worth watching.
nickan2000
Here is the thing, mafia films are more or less dead. This film had a good storyline, locations used gave the film a very convincing feel. You had a mix of very well known names and known names. The rhythm of the film was good as well. It had all the right ingredients for a excellent film. But unfortunately whoever wrote the dialogues and casted people surely didn't consult each other. Most of the very intense moments of the film had long dialogues and the characters playing the roles could not bring any intensity to the situation. And once again a good at heart stuck in the criminal world is not really ideal either. All the old mafia films were good because they went all the way good at heart or not. They generated that feel and compassion that they want to a part of mafia. This is a mafia chick flick at the best. Anyways with some shorter dialogue in hyped up scenes would have done the justice to the talent in the film. Or a better cast with the same dialogues and a bit bold director, who wasn't scared of leaving the good guy routine behind, could have made this film work.Just my opinion.
scrabo39-143-16850
Watched this last night, hoping to see something along the lines of, well, good acting. I was bitterly disappointed. To call the lead wooden, would be an insult to trees. Awful script. Awful direction. Awful acting. Awful..........just awful. Harvey Keitel does his best, but he must have known this was going to be a Krimbo turkey from day one. Painful to watch, and I can only hope whoever cast this recovers quickly.Low budget boredom from start to finish, with unbelievable dialogue. Wrong Turn at Tahoe, makes this film look like what it is, a cheap, no thrills D movie.I implore you, gentle film viewer, to give this one a wide, wide berth. To sum up, do not waste your precious time!
AD
