In the Grey
- 5 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Guy Ritchie is one of most prolific modern Writer/Directors. He's churning out action flicks at a pace that no one else can equal.
Stuffy critics be damned, I laughed thru and enjoyed every minute of his taut new caper thriller, IN THE GREY.
It starts fast and never lets up, blending an international finance operation with an Oceans 11 style escape from a very hostile island.
Ritchie's deft touch at staging action, slight of hand and complicated sequences really hit their stride in the hands of a killer cast having a very good time.
Returning from Ritchie's hugely enjoyable 2024 WW2 flick "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare", Eiza Gonzalez oozes high class snark as Rachel, a clever operative who recovers the impossible for some of the largest corporations around the globe.
When South American island ruler Manny Salazar (a terrific Carlos Bardem) decides he's not paying back $1 billion to a major corp led by Bobby Sheen (Rosamund Pike), Rachel takes on the case and says she'll recoup the entire Billion.
She takes $10 million in advance of her fee to hire her reliable team.
And that's when the real fun starts.
Jake Gyllenhaal is Bronco, the wise-ass gunman ready for anything. Gyllenhaal is having as much fun as I've ever seen him have onscreen, dropping one liners and bad guys in lethal fashion. And his one liners are excellent thanks to Ritchie's fast paced, zinger loaded script.
Of course, it helps every agent with a quip to have a perfect straight man for his jokes and Henry Cavill delivers that and more as Sid, the other muscle that never leaves Rachel's side.
Each of Rachel's team has their own niche and they are a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Her leadership qualities are unmistakable, since every one of the men on her team will do anything to protect her, at any and all cost.
Fisher Stevens (The Blacklist) continues his recent career revival with a hilarious performance as Salazar's lawyer, William Horowitz. When Horowitz refuses Rachel's request for information, she begins a systematic attack on all the resources that Salazar holds most dear. When you're messing with a crime kingpin's Mega Yacht and Private Jet, you've got him by the cojones.
Ritchie constructs a brilliant and complicated puzzle that is a lot of fun to watch.
He gives you an overview of Salazar's operation and then delights in watching Rachel pull out one Jenga piece at a time until his entire global network begins to crumble.
Saving the best for last, Ritchie shows you the team's very elaborate and action packed method for escaping Salazar's island. He has a small army in place, along with every policeman and asset on the island. So how will they escape?
No spoilers here, but I loved the way Ritchie sets up every possible way out and gives you enough information to know exactly how each route should work.
The final half hour sees our team trying to escape one impossible scenario after another. We never left the edge of our seat for much of the film, but especially during the last 30-45 minutes that are full of massive set pieces, chases on land, sea and air, and some of the best practical explosions captured on film in years.
Gyllenhall and Cavill are terrific together, generating huge laughs and jaw dropping action that pound off the screen, one after another. I'd love to see another movie with Sid, Bronco and Rachel targeting another Bond-like baddie. They are a fantastic trio.
Special kudos to Kristofer Hivju (Game of Thrones, Red One) as Axel, the muscle that Salazar turns to when no one else can take out Rachel. He's lethal fun, as is Kojo Attah (The BeeKeeper) as Andre, Bronco's loyal right hand demolitions expert.
I loved Chris Benstead's music score that drives you in globe hopping style from the highest skyscrapers of Manhattan to the deepest jungles of South America. It's the perfect accompaniment to the usual fun titles and chapters that are Ritchie's signature.
In one scene, Bronco rattles of an amazing amount of weaponry they've assembled to go after Salazar, using hilarious slang for everything. As he speaks, the real names of the items unspool down the left side of the screen. Its perfectly Ritchie in all the right ways.
There's a scene that kicks off the explosive finale in which Rachel and Bronco stop at a tiny bar in the middle of the town to have a cerveza after confronting Salazar. Ritchie's writing/direction and the editing by Martin Walsh (V for Vendetta) and Jim Weedon (Gladiator) in the entire sequence is textbook, but writes it's own new chapter. As sinister forces descend from all angles, Ritchie and team cleverly place you in the middle of the danger with a clear understanding of what you are facing. It's so much fun I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
Rarely has deception, revenge and escape been wrapped this tightly into a taut 98 minute thriller. It's black & white for me, IN THE GREY is an absolute blast, stealing a B+ from me in high style.
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