{"id":381,"date":"2022-07-22T15:54:05","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T15:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nancyepton.co.uk\/?p=381"},"modified":"2024-01-04T14:38:17","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T14:38:17","slug":"review-the-gray-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nancyepton.co.uk\/?p=381","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Gray Man"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In The Gray Man<\/em>‘s opening scene, future handler Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) informs Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling), who is currently incarcerated for murder, that he \u2018seems the type\u2019. And he certainly does. His first film since 2018\u2019s First Man<\/em>, Gosling has built the later part of his career on strong silent types (The Place Beyond the Pines<\/em>, Drive<\/em>, Only God Forgives<\/em>), many of whom have taken lives in the interest of survival. It might seem disconcerting, then, when Six (a characteristically brief name for Gosling\u2019s characters \u2013 the original name from the books, Court Gentry, is pretty much ignored) hits back at Fitzroy with several nonchalant comebacks. Multiple sentences are spoken. The veteran Gosling viewer might be concerned. Is this man going to exceed the sparse word counts of his previous laconic antiheroes (Driver utters only 116 lines; Only God Forgives<\/em>\u2019 Julian? A mere 17)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t fret. In an interview with Empire<\/em>, co-director Anthony Russo describes Gosling as a \u2018master of minimalism\u2019, and Six quickly falls back into silent mode as we witness him smoothly removing assailants in various flashbacks. Based on Mark Greany\u2019s 2009 novel of the same title, The Gray Man<\/em> follows Gosling as the titular black ops killer in the CIA who is targeted by former colleagues after he discovers a damning secret, and is helped by conflicted CIA agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas). Chief among Gentry\u2019s pursuers is Lloyd Hansen, played with hammy bravado by Chris Evans. Much of the film\u2019s fun is derived from the cat and mouse camaraderie between the two stars. Hansen\u2019s matter of fact statement that \u2018you gotta make an omelette\u2019 if you want to kill people certainly reflects all the carnage that occurs during the 2-hour run time. The film\u2019s gargantuan budget of $200 million is on wide display as we watch Hansen pursue Gentry across the various luxurious corners of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the set pieces are impressive, this doesn\u2019t make up for a lacklustre screenplay and unimaginative action sequences. Gosling, Evans and De Armas\u2019s combined star quality should be enough to carry this through, but their respective characters don\u2019t allow much room for intrigue. Evans\u2019 Hansen is frequently described as \u2018sociopathic\u2019, and while Evans and his \u2018trash stache\u2019 try their utmost, he still can\u2019t quite escape from his nice guy Captain America persona. Every time an expletive leaves his mouth, it\u2019s hard not to picture the man in red, white and blue telling him off with a wagging finger gesture. Despite attempts to cultivate a sense of intimidation when he removes a character\u2019s fingernails at one point, Evans\u2019s pantomime villain persona from Knives<\/em> Out <\/em>is still front and foremost. It doesn\u2019t mean that he doesn\u2019t get some memorable comedic one-liners (America\u2019s ass is the victim of yet another injustice), but the supposedly serious persona required for the character never comes across. Gosling is also let down by weak characterisation; we hear some standard descriptions of the abuse he suffered from his father as a child, but are never given much reason to root for this individual as he takes out scores of assailants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Russo Brothers are in their element when directing bloodless, 12A superhero films, and that style doesn\u2019t work in a production of this calibre. Sure, there are moments when Gosling\u2019s character gets blood on his face and has to be treated for an injury, but The Gray Man <\/em>would\u2019ve benefitted from more gritty, Bourne<\/em>-style violence (although the Russo\u2019s decision to focus on big explosions and largely inconsequential chaos will nonetheless likely appeal to a wider audience).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the focus remains largely on Gosling and Evans\u2019 globe-trotting feuds, there\u2019s little time for a deep focus on other characters. As with No Time To Die<\/em>, Ana De Armas is woefully underused and underdeveloped; hopefully she\u2019ll get the attention she deserves in Andrew Dominik\u2019s upcoming Blonde<\/em>. Other characters and their motivations are largely swept to the side, with CIA big bad Denny Carmichael (Reg\u00e9-Jean Page) making minimal impact, and Dhanush\u2019s Lone Wolf, a potentially intriguing anti-hero, being brushed over in a largely two-dimensional role. If you\u2019re up for a bit of mindless fun, The Grey Man<\/em> works just fine. If you want an action caper that\u2019s a bit deeper, you\u2019ll have to look elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In The Gray Man‘s opening scene, future handler Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) informs Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling), who is currently incarcerated for murder, that he \u2018seems the type\u2019. And he certainly does. His first film since 2018\u2019s First Man, Gosling has built the later part of his career on strong silent types (The Place Beyond … <\/p>\n

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