Guns Up is the rare action-comedy that took me by surprise, sometimes for good, sometimes not so much. Written and directed by Edward Drake, the film stars Kevin James and Christina Ricci, who, let’s be honest, is quite a weird pairing for this genre, one that I desperately wanted to see. Drake has spent the bulk of his filmmaking career working with Bruce Willis in loads of forgettable crime movies. I think it’s safe to say that James is filling the Willis role here, with maybe a tad more humor, as bruising ex-cop turned mob enforcer Ray Hayes. Ray’s a humble family man who turns to crime to fund his wife Alice’s dream of opening a roadside diner. He’s not even keeping secrets from her. She knows all about his bloody line of work and loves him anyway, and that goes a long way when Ray tries to convince himself that he’s not a bad guy despite what he does.
This idea of being more than your line of work is a constant thread in Guns Up. When Ray first meets his bosses, Michael, played by the great Oscar nominee Melissa Leo, and Ignatius, played by awesome character actor Luis Guzman, he insists he’s not one of them. Even Mike and Iggy see themselves as better than other criminals because they abide by a certain code of honor. Unfortunately for them, rival criminal Lonny Castigan (Timothy V. Murphy) doesn’t abide by any code, and when he violently attacks them and takes over as boss, he makes it clear that Ray will never be allowed to retire and pursue his wife’s dream now that they have the money to make it a reality. One botched job later and Ray finds himself and his family targets for Lonny’s wrath.
Visually, Guns Up resembles much of Drake’s previous work. Bland, dark, cinematography captures the stereotypical “gritty” aesthetic. James, who has done a lot to build his cred as an action star, delivers occasionally brutal violence with gusto. He’s believable as a heavy-hitter whose punches look like they would devastate you. His comedic background comes in handy because this is a movie that, despite the weighty concerns and heavy bloodshed, tries to play at being offbeat. It doesn’t always work, though, as the tone swings wildly to the point of distraction. It’s not always clear what kind of movie Drake is trying to make. Should we take any of this seriously, or no?
While James, Leo, and Guzman deliver solid performances, and Murphy is at least a mildly threatening villain, the real scene-stealer is Ricci. For much of the movie, it seems like she’s playing another wife character who is meant to stand by her husband’s side but not be integral to the plot. Then the last 30 minutes of the movie happen and suddenly Alice turns into Uma Thurman from Kill Bill. The plot behind her sudden shift makes absolutely zero sense, but Guns Up doesn’t distinguish itself enough for you to care. You just want to watch Ricci go nuts killing a bunch of people with meat cleavers and that’s what she does. Turns out she’s pretty awesome at it, too. Not only that, but the film becomes more of an action buddy comedy from that point, and it makes you wish Guns Up had armed up Ricci right from the beginning.
Vertical releases Guns Up into theaters on July 18th.
