‘THE GRAY MAN’ review: Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans interlink in a battle of wits, bullets and brawn

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

THE GRAY MAN

Rated R, 2 hours and 2 minutes

Directed by: Joe Russo and Anthony Russo

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Rege-Jean Page, Jessica Henwick, Dhanush, Billy Bob Thornton, Julia Butters, Alfre Woodard

Director Joe and Anthony Russo’s THE GRAY MAN doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to big spectacle spy-actioners, but it certainly keeps the wheels turning at breakneck speed. A page-turner sprung to innovative, fully cinematic life, this adaptation of Mark Greaney’s novel centered on a rogue spy unwittingly entangled in a mission for survival takes what’s great about the genre and gives it a glossy grit. A battle of wits and bullets, the unrelenting, pressing, action-heavy story is lean and clean. With a sprawling, impressive ensemble, the filmmakers masterfully play to their actors’ strengths while gifting audiences with a thoroughly engrossing, entertaining (if not excessively so) summer thriller.

Court Gentry (Ryan Gosling) has spent most of his life in prison – both a literal one and one of his own making. He landed, at a young age, in the clink and was ready for obscurity when Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) recruits him to be part of an elite squad of CIA assassins in exchange for a commuted sentence. The risk is that he’s disposable and has to renounce any sense of freedom. Armed with a glib sense of humor and tons of guile, his killer antics as his assigned identity Sierra Six have kept him alive years later. That is until he catches wind from a target that not only does the new agency Group Chief Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page) want the program terminated, including all existing agents, he’s also unscrupulous, mixed up in some corrupt practices as evidenced by an encrypted flash drive that was passed to Six.

Mayhem ensues for Six once Denny puts sociopathic contract killer Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) on the case, tracking the elusive spy down. Naturally this underhanded strategy rankles Deputy Group Chief leader Suzanne Brewer (Jessica Henwick), who’s all about enforcing the rules. Lloyd’s ruthless methods include kidnapping and holding hostage Fitzroy’s 12-year-old vinyl-loving niece Claire (Julia Butters), whom Six protected when she was recovering from a heart condition years prior. Yet it’s not until badass agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) joins up with Six does he start to get somewhere, locating Claire and compiling information to take down Denny. But with a fleet of world-renowned hitmen on his trail, including cutthroat baddie Avik San (Dhanush), it’s gonna be an adventure for the books for Six to escape alive.

Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely do a great job balancing emotional undertones along with the big action set pieces, of which there are a whopping 9, each with their own crafty conception and intelligent construction. Sequences that place the emphasis on action keep character drive and the narrative’s propulsive momentum at the forefront. The Vienna train sequence, Six’s MacGyver-inspired escape from a booby trapped floor, the hospital fisticuffs and Six’s climactic face-off with antagonist Lloyd all look, move and breathe identifiably different from each other. Cinematographer Stephen F. Windon’s low-light work complements the darkness and duality within these characters’ souls. While the unstoppable action gets a little exhausting in parts (where fewer sequences would make the best more vibrant), it avoids lulls in energy and electricity.

Not only does the action work to the straightforward source material’s advantage, the humor adds an effervescence, counter-balancing the heavier ‘70s-styled political commentary (about government malfeasance and abandonment) that’s been filtered through an ‘80s lens. Composer Henry Jackman’s score isn’t centered on one specific soundscape to unite its themes, but is grounded in a dark, low-key, scuzzy sound that feels endemic to these characters. Judianna Makovsky’s costume design augments Dani and Lloyd’s sharp character designs, highlighting their respective beauty and brawn within the wardrobe’s tactile fabrics and clean cuts.

Gosling and Evans share excellent repartee. Gosling’s hero is set apart from others he’s played, not solely within a fleshed out backstory, but also in his physicality. The man can chew a toothpick both in DRIVE and here and make them look drastically different. Evans is a delight to see cut loose, acting comically unhinged and still retaining an intimidating presence. Page is fun to see play against type in his slippery role. De Armas is allowed to do what her short NO TIME TO DIE stint wouldn’t let her do: stay on-screen for longer than 15 minutes. Dhanush’s scenes are brief, as he enters late in the picture, but those sequences are brutal, potent and piercing, carrying good narrative weight. Butters builds out her part with depth and dimension despite being relegated to the stereotypical damsel in distress that’s prevalent in the genre (TRUE LIES, COMMANDO, TAKEN, MAN ON FIRE, etc.).

Grade: 4 out of 5 

THE GRAY MAN will be releasing in theaters on July 15th and on Netflix July 22^nd.