Monday, April 05, 2010

Gun Movies - Bill's Gun Shop

When I saw the Bill's Gun Shop DVD at a pawnshop for $2 I wasn't really expecting much from this direct to video production and after watching it I must say it was about what I expected. The movie stars John Ashton (a favorite character actor) and since it was cheap enough I decided to give it a chance. Ashton is Bill, the gun shop owner and Scott Cooper co-stars as a young man that has been a "gun nut" all his life and finally gets his dream job at Bill's shop as a salesman. Intertwined with this is also a subplot about Bill being a bounty hunter and how one of their jobs goes wrong and they have to cover up a murder. Did I forget to mention the part where the young man is a loser with girls but his preoccupation with guns, and what he learns about himself working at the shop makes him a more self-confident. Mostly though I guess this little production is a commentary on how a gun can change a person's personality and how it (the gun) can give you a sense of power or fearlessness, or self-assurance, or something. I don't know. I must admit I was bored a lot of time during this so maybe I missed the point the director was trying to make. I'm just glad there wasn't a test afterward. What I did notice most in the film though was the supposedly adult people acting like kids when they had a gun in their hand, and that included a lot of dangerous gun play and generally stupid behavior. And then, as could be expected, every cliché about people that own guns had to be thrown into the mix too - gun owning white separatist - gun toting gang members - guns and suicide, etc. I guess the only one they missed was the gun owner/spree killer. There are a few interesting scenes but as a whole this movie really isn't worth the trouble. I doubt that I ever watch it again and there's nothing here to make me recommend it to anyone else, but if you must you must. Just remember, you have been warned.

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