A boy and his gun. A boy with problems. “Fade to Black” meets “Taxi Driver” in “Bill’s Gun Shop” a hard-bitten film noir from first time feature director/executive producer Dean Lincoln Hyers.

     Dillon (played moodless, yet, affected by Scott Cooper) is a troubled loner pursuing a sultry used waitress named Hillary (actress Jacy Dumermuth). He tries the nice guy approach on Hillary who is not impressed and expresses her non-interest. Spurned, Dillon internalizes his feelings and seeks solace in movies with an unhealthy gun infatuation. This leads him to take a job at Bill’s Gun Shop. A family friend, Rick (played by Victor Rivers from The Mask of Zorro) recommended Dillon for the job at the gun shop owned by tough guy Bill (Beverly Hills Cop’s John Ashton) whose other business is bounty hunting. Rick is into bounty hunting as well and a hefty helping of brutality.

     Most of the gun-play in “Bill’s Gun Shop” does not revolve around discharging a weapon at or into another human being. The mere presence of so many guns around and in the hands of the characters provides much tension. The first day on the job at the gun shop Bill gives Dillon a handgun. The smallish weapon is cradled by Dillon awkwardly but soon finds a safe inviting haven in an empty holster worn by Dillon under his jacket. He poses with the weapon shortly thereafter in the restroom of the shop drawing the sidearm from its holster while standing before a mirror accidentally cracking it in the process.

     “Bill’s Gun Shop” features the talents of a knowing cast of professionals. As the menacing Bill, John Ashton lumbers about with authority that is taken seriously by the other actors. Tom Bower, who I recently saw (admittedly belated) in the harsh biopic “Pollock,” plays the gun shop’s old-time salesman. Bower is a warm familiar face, likable, lightening the morose tone of most of the film. James Keane, an actor who will also be familiar to most audiences due to his appearances in films and television, plays a lonely guy suitably named Delbert. Delbert is victimized by some gang types in one scene that is particularly suspenseful.

     The story is told with a shifting event sequence providing flash forwards and flash backs that were not easy to follow in places. Still, ever since “Memento,” I have been a little more patient with films that risk non-linear story-telling. The pieces come together here although I thought that more could have been done with the film’s conclusion. The final scenes benefit greatly from a good closing song; the soundtrack is of excellent quality.

     “Bill’s Gun Shop” left me unnerved by all those guns in the hands of so many people on the fringe. For example, the character of Arnie (played by comedian Sage) is an extremist that has an arrogant knowledge of weaponry and his own twisted ideas how to put that knowledge to use--his secrete group meets in his parent’s garage where discussion of underground bunkers and Hitler are lead topics. Arnie’s mother bakes cookies for the attendees.

     Of course, it wasn’t just the extremist elements that gave me pause. Dillon never seems comfortable with a gun in his hands. His knowledge of guns is strictly derived from movies and film. He doesn’t seem to respect the danger a gun poses to himself or others. The real guns within the store are treated no different by Dillon than a child’s water pistol. I found myself questioning whether the guns were loaded and flinching as the guns were tossed about by the characters.

     Growing up in the South on a small farm, I received my first gun around the same time I received my first basketball. I was allowed to use a single shot 22 caliber rifle. The gun gave me a sense of power because it was more than a toy. Early on, I was instructed on the proper use of a weapon and the deadly consequences that could transpire. In “Bill’s Gun Shop,” Dillon must learn those consequences the hard way.

     “Bill’s Gun Shop” is shot on high definition video by veteran cinematographer Mickey Freeman. I can’t say enough good things about the way the film looks. Although I saw the film on television (via a tape mailed to us), it looked clear and sharp with texture that felt as good to me as Carl Franklin’s “One False Move.” Again, because I knew it was shot in video, I looked hard for problems but found nothing significant--the opening sequence in the woods looked a little too dark to me but it was a night shot so what do I expect. Certainly, on the big screen the film should look terrific.

     “Bill’s Gun Shop” is a disquieting film highlighted by the commanding presence of guns and some of the pop-culture fringe dwellers in this country who wield them.

Jonathan W. Hickman, 2001