Write and Wrong

Chris McQuarrie won an Oscar for Usual Suspects, to which Hollywood responded, "Big deal'

Comments (0) By Robert Wilonsky Thursday, Aug 31 2000

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John Baer

The write man for the job: Chris McQuarrie, right, directs Ryan Phillippe on the set of The Way of the Gun

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“I'm beyond that now, because they have already co-opted me,” he says, chuckling. “If they hadn't, I wouldn't have made The Way of the Gun. My wife will tell you I am the kind of person who will eat and eat and eat and eat and eat all the shit you give me, because I'm a writer and that's what writers do, and then at a certain point, I become cornered. If you just pull out that one last turd and ask me to eat it, I will freak out on you. That's The Way of the Gun. I was pushed into a corner, and I finally responded by saying, “This is how I feel.' There was a lot of anger when I wrote it. But it's kind of a peaceful thing where I've finally come back to the place where I'm writing because I like writing, and I don't care if people see it. I don't care if I'm never allowed to make the one great perfect all-expressing film I wanted to make.”

And, for a second, you might actually believe him.