Full Review

The title certainly fits. From the first minutes of "Shoot 'Em Up" (New Line) practically to the last frame, the gunplay never ceases. Not during a sexual encounter. Not even during childbirth.

Given the title, you might think this a throwback to the low-budget westerns of yore, a misunderstanding intentionally reinforced by the opening close-up on star Clive Owen accompanied by some ominous Enrico Morricone-like underscoring. But no, the setting is just a present-day metropolis.

Western or not, you may be hard-pressed to find a more ultraviolent action film than this. The plot, merely a contrivance for maximum bloodshed, involves a generally unflappable sharpshooter with a mysterious past known only as Mr. Smith (Clive Owen). In the film's opening scene, he tries in vain to rescue a pregnant woman from an assassin, moments before she's due to give birth.

He saves the baby, however, and brings it to a former flame, a prostitute called DQ (the beauteous but wooden Monica Bellucci, in a far cry from her portrayal of the Magdalen in "The Passion of the Christ"). He hopes she'll temporarily care for the infant, but she refuses.

When, shortly after, ruthless bad guy Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti) pays her a frightening visit, and Smith saves her in the nick of time, DQ finds herself on the run, later demonstrating her enduring passion for Smith, while displaying unexpected maternal affection for the child.

It may be a bit of a spoiler to reveal that Hertz turns out to be in the employ of gun interests, but there are plenty of other revelations to come in a rather confusing script, one that in any case clearly values action over talk.

Writer-director Michael Davis' film is played tongue-in-cheek and with flashes of genuine wit. The two leads make charismatic adversaries: Owen a cool, carrot-munching hero and Giamatti a stop-at-nothing villain (intimidated only by domestic calls from his never-seen nagging wife), and there's a commendable anti-gun subtext.

On the debit side, the film is fast-paced to the point of exhaustion, and ultimately, the intensity of the violence, the record-breaking body count, and most especially, myriad sordid elements, sexual and otherwise -- e.g., a prostitute dressed, partly, in a nun's habit -- preclude endorsement.

The film contains intense visceral violence with numberless killings, torture, a graphic sexual encounter and others less explicit, partial nudity, pervasive rough language and profanity, crude expressions, innuendo and an irreverent sight gag. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is O -- morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.