Free Fire - Ben Wheatley (2017)

There is a story to be found in every moment in time. Chaotic or serene, it makes no difference. What may look like a flash-quick firefight can have its own narratives with their own tales.

When Chris, (Cillian Murphy) Stevo, (Sam Riley) Bernie, (Enzo Cilenti) Frank (Michael Smiley) and Justine (Brie Larson) meet up at the start of "Freeze Fire," there is so much testosterone and prick swinging that it is hard to tell which character is which, let alone size them up.

The five of them have come to the docks in late seventies Boston to buy some guns from a man called Ord (Armie Hammer.)

Ant there is more masculine banter. (If you have seen any heist movie since Quentin Tarantino's 1992 masterpiece "Reservoir Dogs," you know the kind of ball-beating I'm talking about.)

Ord is then joined by the rest of his crew: Vernon, (Sharlto Copley) Gordon, (Noah Taylor) Harry (Jack Reynor) and Martin (Babou Ceesay.)

Here's where things get sticky. As it turns out, Harry, from one crew, had jumped Stevo, from the other crew the night before. Now that is just a bit of bad luck.

And Stevo, he did have that beat-down coming.

That sparks the fuse.

Harry takes out of his gun and shoots Stevo. Now we really are off to the races.

What follows is an intense, precise and particular gun-battle. Everybody joins in and everybody is targeted.

Just when it looks like the fight could peter out, something neither of the gangs had counted on showing up: snipers.

Now, if the two crews would just cooperate, they could just take care of the snipers together. But Nooooo! They have to be buttholes, shooting each other and at the snipers at the same time.

"Free Fire" does have its down moments as well as the exciting ones. You have to quiet things down at least as long as it takes for Stevo to smack himself up and for Ord to smoke a little weed. Otherwise, it would just be rude. We are civilized!

Wheatley somehow manages to keep up the film's arduous pace. Each member of both crews is on their elbows and knees and shot at some point. He seems to have a talent for taking the fight and making it nice and visceral. We jump at every shot. We breathe alongside these people.

I invoked "Reservoir Dogs" earlier. "Free Fire" is not quite up to those standards, but it does have that same level of immediacy.

It is the intensity of a story inside one small moment and easily one of the best movies to come out this year.

I affectionately recommend this film.