Directed by: Anthony & Joe Russo
Distributed by: Netflix
Written by Alexander Reams
80/100
Where do you go after conquering the world? This question must’ve plagued Anthony & Joe Russo after finishing their 2-part finale to the MCU (“Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame”). Their first post-MCU project was their war/drama “Cherry” with Tom Holland, which was poorly received, but I appreciated their unique approach to adapting the novel. Now they return to big-budget blockbusters with another adaptation of a novel, this time Mark Greaney’s “The Gray Man” following Court Gentry portrayed by Ryan Gosling, his return to features after a 4-year break. Similar to Leonardo DiCaprio taking 4 years off after “The Revenant” and coming back with “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. Who had the better return? In terms of showiness, Gosling, in terms of quality, Leo.
Surrounding Gosling’s Gentry is Ana De Armas as Dani Miranda, whose name I don’t believe is said more than once on screen, not a good look for character development, and Billy Bob Thornton as Gentry’s surrogate father/former boss; Donald Fitzroy. The people who make Gentry’s life uncomfortable are Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page, who really impressed me in his role), Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), and the guy you know is a bad guy because of his terrible haircut and porn stache, Lloyd Hansen (A gleefully insane Chris Evans).
The official synopsis reads something like after uncovering dark secrets, Sierra Six aka Court Gentry is sent on the run after being betrayed by his superiors, and is now chased by a psychopathic colleague. A simple premise, another “on the run” movie, and while it is definitely generic at points, the Russo’s employed unique camerawork, including the use of drones, not on the level of “Ambulance” but their presence is noticeable. The score composed by Russo regular Henry Jackman is different than his previous action scores, which were fairly generic, employing more percussive sounds and less traditional strings. I thoroughly enjoyed the Russo’s latest outing and while that may continue to be unpopular for a while, I appreciate the weird direction they are going.
“The Gray Man” Trailer
“The Gray Man” is streaming on Netflix.
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