Guns

This is a CBC mini-series set in Toronto with an interconnected expansive story about guns. Gun fire erupts in a crowd and a little girl is killed. Reggie is a weed dealer arrested running from the scene with a gun. Rick Merriweather and Ford Saunders' investigation leads to legitimate gun dealer Paul Duguid (Colm Feore) who is fighting the handgun registry legislation. Paul's son Bobby does illegal jobs for him. He hires Derek Wilmot and recently released Conrad to steal from gun collector Sinclair Patterson. Francis Dett (Elisha Cuthbert) is Bobby's girlfriend. Reporter Eva Innis takes in Derek as a new intern at her newspaper.

This is ambitious in the scope of story telling for Canadian TV. It's too overtly political which actually dilutes its impact. The spider web writing style is too scattered. It's too vast, too long, and too slow at times. There are a few great characters with interesting stories. On the other hand, Gregory Smith as Bobby is too scrawny. He could work as a child overcompensating to impress his father but he is played more as gangster which is laughable. Despite its many problems, it's still watchable and it's definitely sincere. It is competently made with skilled actors.

As the last review mentioned, GUNS is somewhat on par with any other "generic" LA or NY crime drama. One could argue if it were better or worse (and trust me on this, it's worse), but lets put that aside for now. What is not arguable about the show is that if it didn't take place in Toronto, there wouldn't really be anything Canadian about it.

So with that being true, if this were a production of free enterprise, I couldn't complain. They raised enough money, went through with their plan, and shot a very generic American crime drama in Toronto, and even used a cast of talented Canadian actors. Heck, I'd probably be interested to see my home town (T.O) in one of those cool crime shows, and I might even watch it. But since this was a production of the CBC, we the tax payers were the ones who funded this project. The idea of having our "american crime show" take place in Toronto suddenly sounds really ridiculous, especially if it's a multi-million dollar project coming out of our pockets, which it was.

Now don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with American content being broadcast in Canada, but when our tax dollars are used to create Canadian Content, I expect something that is a little more culturally, well... Canadian.

So, instead of making a cheesy gun drama (that actually attacks legitimate gun owners, makes it look like every 10th black person in the city has a handgun, and trivializes gun crime), we could have literally removed hundreds, if not thousands of illegal guns from the streets of Toronto, put forth a real crime reduction campaign, and had enough money left over to buy an episode of GENERIC CRIME SHOW: NEW YORK for us all to watch on CBC tonight. Oh well, maybe the next one they make with our money will be better.

The ending plot is confusing. The whole movie when I purchased it is advertised like a DVD film, but actually is a TV budget two part drama (aka garbage).

Didn't like it, just a cheap look to the film and the actors (except Elisha did her best in the circumstances). Bad story, could of been good possibly in the right hands.

If I could I'd get my money back for mis-advertisement as I thought I was buying a DVD film not a TV series of two junk parts.

Watch at your own risk I warned you. First review on here just had to warn people against this film

I have just watched part 1 and 2 of "Guns" mini TV-series and I thought it was fantastic. It will be a lot like previous homicide cop shows that have been made about N.Y. and L.A. but this one takes place in my hometown of Toronto which is what really attracted me to it. As far as global success it offers nothing new but for Canadian viewers it was very entertaining.

It had the right amount of conflict, violence, drama, and even some small comedic lines splattered across. This will be a shame if it is not picked up for at least 1 season to see where the writer goes with it. Because only through pain does one become stronger and that is what Bobby feels in the end of this series.

Guns have been a serious problem in our city, its nothing new but it is something that needs to be pointed out and this show although completely fictional it does help portray some of the violence that we have experienced in the past and even more so recently. I see a potential if some clichés are wiped out and if some story plots are intertwined a bit more and tighter, overall though I see a future if given a chance and they put forth the hard work.

8/10

~XTC