Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Michael Ledo Eddie and Richard are two losers who were bullied as children. Adulthood is not much different. They opt to get guns and fight back and suddenly when things go awry they find themselves way over their heads leaving the audience with nothing to root for but a quick end to the film.I didn't like the plot, the characters, or the dialogue.Guide: F-bomb. Sex and nudity.

Wizard-8 About the only kindest thing one can say for "Men with Guns" is that unlike most Canadian films, the movie does not try to disguise its location and characters as American - it's made clear it's taking place in Toronto and the surrounding area. Otherwise, the movie goes wrong in just about every way you can think of. The main problem is with the script. The heart of the story - two criminal lowlifes getting their hands on a large supply of illegal narcotics belonging to the mob - has been done on TV and in other movies many many times before. It still could have worked, but the script also suffers from characters that are not only extremely thin, but are pretty repulsive and one note. The cast shows some talent, but the only actor who manages to make an impression is American Paul Sorvino - and he is only given three (brief) scenes in the entire movie. The movie also suffers from shoddy production values; it looks like a low budget Canadian TV show from the 1980s instead of a movie. Obviously not to be confused with the reportedly superior John Sayles movie of the same title that came out around the same time.

lemon_magic In its favor, "Men With Guns" has a cool title, three strong performances, a nice sense of ambiance and atmosphere, Paul Sorvino doing what Paul Sorvino does, a few genuinely funny moments, a pretty good party/orgy scene, and a dandy chase scene that gives you a sense of the character's desperation and fright.On the other hand, you can go to a video store or turn on your cable provider, and see a hundred gritty crime dramas about small time losers getting in over their heads with the mob and/or the law, some of them much better paced and told than this one.While "Men With Guns" has a slightly different emphasis with its emphasis on the devotion and loyalty of the two friends to each other, the director seemed to out of his way to rub the audiences' collective noses in the sleaze and grime of their lowlife scene, to the point where it seemed to me he was wallowing in cinematic tricks and clichés stolen directly from Tony Scott and French existential cinema. Add to that a rushed ending that doesn't have the guts to live up to its "Butch Cassidy" finish and characters who are dense, unthinking, and pretty unsympathetic (it's not a tragedy if the bad things that happen to the protagonists is a direct result of their own stupidity) and you've got a movie that makes you wish you'd watched "GoodFellas" or "Taxi Driver".The director and cinematographer obviously have some chops - this is a well "made" movie with professional polish and some great setups. But they need to set their sites a little higher regarding the story they want to tell.If you just have to watch a gritty crime drama about low lives getting in over their heads with the mob and the cops, and you've already seen all the better movies in the genre 100 times, well, "Men With Guns" will give you your crime drama fix. But you'll probably prefer to go back and watch "Rounders" for the 101st time instead.

fultron78 For me, the real strength of this film is its authenticity. It reminded me a little of "Laws of Gravity".It's unabashedly Canadian, low-budget, and gritty. Where a big (or even medium) budget Hollywood movie would have nice costumes, a crisp soundtrack, star players, a fantastical plot, and try to pass off Toronto as New York, Men With Guns does everything exactly the opposite and is so much better for it.The main cast are barely-known, unshaven and unattractive, wearing what could be their own street clothes. The characters aren't heroes, they're losers. Their small-time criminal stupidity and immaturity is exactly what you would expect if a bunch of lowlifes came across a huge bag of cocaine by accident. There's no million-dollar deal, no flashy clothes, cars and jewels, no plan: instead they get really high, pick up some trashy girls at a local club, then go home and destroy their dumpy apartment. Their idea of preparing for a heist is to smoke drugs, set off fireworks, and shoot at beer cans. The cops and mob easily track them down. The chase scene doesn't have over-the-top car stunts and end in a thrilling get away: the main character is run to the ground, puking and stumbling. The sex scene isn't romantic and shot with body-doubles: it's bent over a bathroom sink, fumbling for a condom, and doesn't escape the awkward morning-after hangover. In short, the story is no fairy tale.Don't get me wrong, Men With Guns has its flaws (the mob/cop caricatures, the hasty ending, some poor support acting/casting), but the B-movie quality isn't one of them. It's not a matter of "it's so bad, it's good", it's that parts of the movie feel genuine enough that it could be the adaptation of a true story.Ignoring the details of the plot in favour of the overall ambiance, I rate it 7/10.