By the Gun

A lifeless, by-the-numbers crime drama that you've seen played out countless times before, "By the Gun" is the kind of film that makes a critic feel awful for slamming it, due to it being a low-budget, independent film that's receiving a very limited release. But that can't change the fact that this film is a clich�-ridden bore without a single original idea in its head.

Ben Barnes ("The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian") stars as Nick Tortano, a young Italian man who's integrating into the Boston mafia. He earns the respect of the respected crime bosses, Salvatore Vitaglia (Harvey Keitel) and Tony Matazano (Ritchie Coster), while even falling in love with the latter gangster's daughter, Ali (Leighton Meester). Unbeknownst to her, however, Nick is associated with her father's line of work. When double-crosses begin to take violent turns, tragic consequences befall everyone involved in their tangled web of corruption.

Apart from Keitel as the Don Corleone-like Salvatore, and Toby Jones ("Berberian Sound Studio") as his right-hand man Jerry, the cast delivers a mish-mash of histrionic performances, ranging from bland to obnoxiously over-the-top. Barnes certainly has a pretty face, but he lacks the charisma that's necessary in making Nick an intriguing or vulnerable protagonist who gets in way over his head. The same goes for Meester as his love interest, but she's stuck playing such an underwritten character comprised entirely of superficial gender tropes that it's doubtful any actress could have been able to bring this sexist archetype to life.

As for the plot, the film goes in the exact directions that you expect it to, even if you're only vaguely familiar with the genre tropes of gangster films. By the time the film's reached its 'emotionally charged' climax, I was neither shocked, moved, nor surprised; just dumbstruck that the film arrived at the exact place I expected it to within ten minutes of its running time.

Written by Emilio Mauro and directed by James Mottern, "By the Gun" is a lazy, uninspired genre piece that lacks any sense of importance, urgency, and worst of all, entertainment value. It's the cinematic equivalent of firing off a round of blanks.