Gunn is a crime noir mystery about a gangster who is trying to move up in the family despite an unstable boss, while also discovering that his world isn’t quite what he thinks it is.
Right off the bat, the first thing I took notice of Gunn was its style. This movie feels like it was pulled right out of some old pulp-style detective comics book form day gone past. Filmed in mostly an all ebony black backgrounds with just a few props to tell you where a particular scene is set, director C.J. Renner – along with cinematographer Tomas Aksamit and set designer, Sam Vantassel – have crafted a unique noir mystery feature well worth investigating.
Elston Gunn (Andrew Stecker) is one of the top men working for crime boss Sam Foster (Richard Keats). Married to Sam’s Daughter Winnie (Anna Stanz), Elston is distraught to find out that rival gangs are trying to claim territories that they already own. Added to this dilemma, Sam doesn’t want to do anything about it and the cops are closely in to bust them all. Soon enough, Elston starts to have an affair with Sam’s woman Victoria (Amanda Day), and it’s right about here when he begins to lose his grip on what is real and what isn’t … and then and so did I.
There were many time when I wasn’t sure if I was suppose to believe the events shown were actually taking place or part of some stage play. A bit like Lars Von Trier’s Dogville, we forget that everything is on a stage and become invested in the story. It brings up moments that feel real because the characters make it so, followed by moments that show it’s clearly just an act, including one where a live band shows up and plays a song and whenever we see a guy get shot, a stagehand dressed in black moves in and blows red glitter to simulate blood.
While I praise the acting from everyone on screen and loved the style immensely, I found certain plot points kind of hard to fully embrace. There are moments that really confuse me, especially one scene involving Elston, Sam and a bathtub, and another when he dances with one of the stagehands while a band plays in the background. Plenty of movies have toyed with the idea of what is real and what is fiction and I think many of the characters in Gunn would fit in quite nicely with classic like The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie or Adaptation.
I’m reminded of a quote from David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. when Betty and Rita visit Club Silencio and the host announces that it’s all an illusion. Gunn feels pretty close. And yeah, movies, plays and such are all just that. Illusions. When Elston announces that the gun he is holding is just a prop, it may be just that and nothing more. It is us the audience who make it real. We don’t need to see the actual piece to know that it will bring tension to a scene. Just like we don’t need to see traditional sets to let us know that this movie takes place in the 30’s.
With Gunn being the 2nd feature in C.J. Renner filmography. He has a great sense of style that feels akin to Rian Johnson‘s Brick. I am very interested to see what he comes up with next.