IN THE GREY Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonzalez, Fisher Stevens, Carlos Bardem, Rosamund Pike, Kojo Attah, Jason Wong, Christopher Ochoa, Emmet J Scanlan, Kristofer Hivju, Mohammed Al Turki.
In The Grey is a stylish, generic globetrotting action thriller and somewhat formulaic crime caper from prolific British director Guy Ritchie. This is his eighteenth feature film since his breakthrough with Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels in 1998.
The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill as Bronco and Sid, respectively, a pair of former special forces operatives who work for the confident, no-nonsense attorney Rachel Wild (Eiza Gonzalez), who specialises in collecting debts from elusive and shady villains. They are called in to help recover a billion dollar debt from corrupt billionaire playboy and criminal kingpin Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem, brother of Javier), who is hiding out on his remote private island. Manny owes the money to Wall Street hedge fund Spencer Goldstein, but previous attempts to collect the debt have resulted in the deaths of debt collectors at the hands of Manny’s ruthless private enforcer Axel Olsson (Kristofer Hivju). Manny is prepared to kill in order to protect his lavish lifestyle.
Spencer Goldstein’s asset manager, the conniving Bobby Sheen (Rosamund Pike, recently seen in Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, etc), reluctantly agrees to let Rachel and her team try and collect the debt. Rachel and her team operate in “the grey zone”, somewhere between legal and illegal, but they have proven to be highly effective.
At first Rachel approaches Salazar’s lawyer William Horowitz (Fisher Stevens, recently seen in Song Sung Blue, etc), but she is rebuffed. Rachel then begins to harass Horowitz and Salazar by dragging him into court, using her team of hackers to attack his finances and businesses, and even legally impounding his private jet and yacht, hoping to drag him to the negotiating table. Meanwhile Bronco and Sid and their team set up base on Salazar’s island, preparing for a showdown.
But after Rachel is successful in her efforts Salazar’s enforcer captures her and holds her hostage on his island. Bronco and Sid leap into action to rescue her, pitting them against Salazar’s heavily armed and well-equipped private army.
As with many of Ritchie’s crime dramas the set up is quite elaborate and the plotting intricate, with lots of necessary exposition. However, the action kicks up in the second half of the film with plenty of gunplay and chases and pyrotechnics, and Ritchie’s handling of these scenes is quite muscular. In The Grey is slick and stylish with Ritchie’s usual visual approach. The film was shot on location in Tenerife and Saudi Arabia, and the locations are well captured by cinematographer Ed Wild (who previously shot Ritchie’s The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare, etc).
This is another film which Ritchie has populated with a colourful array of amoral characters and criminals and loquacious characters who deliver their dialogue in rapid fashion. Many of the main cast have worked with Ritchie before and are familiar with his approach, which often encourages improvisation.
Gyllenhaal and Cavill exchange quips and their dialogue is loaded with homoerotic undertones. But their characters lack any real depth or personality, and I felt there was a distinct lack of chemistry between them. Gonzalez brings charm and intelligence and strength to her role. Pike is wasted in a fairly thankless role that gives her little to do. Stevens is appropriately sleazy and craven as the timid Horowitz. Bardem is typically slimy as the villainous Salzar.
Ritchie keeps things moving. In The Grey is entertaining enough if a derivative piece of pulp fiction. But ultimately this is a minor work for the filmmaker.
★★★
