Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Tom Dooley Set in Boston we meet Nick Tortano (Ben Barnes) he works for Salvatore Vitaglia (Harvey Keitel) in what is seen as the dying days of Sicilian mob rule – with the new eastern Europeans taking over. Nick just wants to be a 'made man' and in doing so has become estranged to his father, but has a best bud in George (Slaine) who sort of gives him a leg up – but he has more of a taste for wanton killing than does Nick.Throw into the mix a little illicit gambling, the ubiquitous lap dancing club and a stereotype Mafiosi or two and you have the general ingredients for a decent film. But this has all the pieces in the wrong place, the slow burn lacks any menace to keep you interested and when the violence does come it is so rushed that you could almost miss it. There is no exploration of the new wave of gangsters or the police doing a single thing – which is a bit odd but would have added something to an otherwise stagily linear narrative. No-one was dusting off the awards cabinet for this one either, but Slaine was good and Keitel can do no wrong. Barnes as a lead was just too nice to be convincing, but did a fair fist of it. This is one that is probably OK for a rental with some beers, as indeed I did, but it is no way going to be a keeper. If you love all things mob related then it is probably worth a go, but do not expect to be blown away.

theutakehome Usually I root for the lead in a film. In this case I just couldn't. I fully understand now why the lead character Ben Barnes distanced himself from the film after it's release. He was made to look like a wanna be punk gangster aka WANKSTER. I refused to garner any sympathy for his situation, simply because the acting didn't get me there. I was more rooting for his best friend Slaine and he was a complete reprobate. I have to say it did live up to the expectations of they typical mob movie with the strip clubs, test of loyalty and revenge tactics. The alienation of at least 1 parent and a sibling torn between the 2. However, with the exception of Keitel, Coaster and Slaine the acting was pretty disappointing. Not sorry I watched but was predictable through and through.

Pratik Vora Ben Barnes, Harvey Keitel, Toby Jones is what had me but I say always go by the ratings/reviews. All actors delivered performances, but in what direction exactly was this movie heading into? Filmmakers tried to sugarcoat the film with intense performances but there was absolutely no background to support it hence it falls flat on the subject matter. There is the Godfather series, The Sopranos TV series which makes 'By the Gun' a by-product of poor film making and disappoints you in the subject matter. Now the most weird thing was, To depict the life of a 'kid' who just got 'made', apparently he dies in the end, which was some kind of twist to make your head spin, and the guy who shoots him, also dies by the hand of the brother of the 'made guy' who had NO role in the movie, no character background, nothing, nada.Leaves you feeling helpless. It tries to send out a message of friendship but not really, eventually turns out to be a subject of a tragic romance straight from the mafia world. The script shows that the Kid wants to do the right thing but then he doesn't. Why is it so confusing?!Toby Jones was such a waste here. I hate it when actors like him fall victim to characters with no background, no density. You would realize that all he does in this movie is make a couple of phone calls and supervises a warehouse. He is a 'made guy'.Not worth your time. Watch the Sopranos again instead.

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.