As the directorial debut of Christopher McQuarrie, the screenwriter behind The Usual Suspects, this certainly is a posturing and excessive crime flick, but there also is wit, gentleness and even a flickering conscience. Ryan Phillippe and Benicio Del Toro both give strong performances as a pair of hoods who kidnap a pregnant woman (Juliette Lewis) who is serving as a surrogate mother for a rich couple. As the double-crosses pile up, this turns into a mesmerizing mystery of motives, albeit one peppered with plenty of gunplay.
