“The Gray Man” (2022)
Highly recommended undercover romp!
Highly recommended undercover romp!
Fancy a whistle stop worldwide tour, from the USA to Thailand, via Azerbaijan, Turkey, the UK, Hong Kong, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic before ending with a bloody and brutal hand to hand combat fight in a maze in the grounds of a Croatian mansion? How about another hand to hand combat fight within the tightly packed confines of the launching ground of a ginormous firework display lighting up a darkened Bangkok skyline? Or perhaps a mid-air fight for a parachute as a cargo aeroplane descends into a fiery inferno below? I know! A ridiculous gun fight on a tram speeding through Vienna or perhaps the escape of our hero from an underground dungeon as he fights for his life and from the clutches of the sociopathic assassin who simply can’t allow him to share the damning secrets that will ultimately damn not just him, but everyone in his world of black, off book, operations?
Throw in as many CIA Agents, contracted assassins and murderous clandestine operations as you can muster in amongst a bubbly soundtrack bookended by the beautiful “Silver Bird” by Mark Lindsay, a fractured and non-linear timeline helmed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War), captured brilliantly by the cinematography of Stephen Windon and edited frenetically and within an inch of it’s cinematic life by Jeff Groth and Pietro Scalia, and you have the quite wonderful and mightily impressive The Gray Man.
Based on the novel of the same name written by Mark Greaney, it’s a tale of black operations and the darkest of dark arts, the “ghosts” no-one is aware of until they’ve come and gone and in this case, wreaked spectacular destruction across the globe before disappearing back into the off book shadows of the CIA. Rather pleasingly, the role call of stars showcased here is headed by Billy Bob Thornton as “Donald Fitzroy”, CIA “Chief” of a special operations team codenamed “Sierra” and recruiter of serial offenders, murderers and potential assassins that have no family, “limited capacity” and an empathy deleted ability to be a cold blooded killer for hire. The prime example of which is brilliantly portrayed and realised by Chris Evans as “Lloyd Hansen”. Recognisably seen as a pure “sociopath”, Hansen is now ostensibly called upon from the private sector of bounty hunting and mercenary killing now he’s left the CIA and Evans plays the unlikeable and detached character well with dead eyed stares and a loquacious tongue.
Rege-Jean Page imbues current CIA Chief “Denny Carmichael” with a cold blooded indifference as he clings to ultimate power of the dark arts and in a male dominated film of alpha aggression from a litany of heavily armed male assassins, please do not overlook the crucial female lead and supporting roles that compliment the film brilliantly. Every female role appears, at first, as flimsy and throwaway but they’re anything but. Fresh from her stunning portrayal of childish and desperate angst to be truly accepted and loved in this year’s Deep Water, Ana de Armas is excellent here again as CIA Agent “Dani Miranda” and Jessica Henwick is underestimated at your peril as she seeks the top job as “Suzanne Brewer”. Alfre Woodard cameos as “Margaret Cahill” and huge plaudits are reserved for Julia Butters (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) who excels again in a youthful role as “Claire Fitzroy”.
But here’s your principal player:
“Sierra Six” or simply “Six” (Ryan Gosling) Recruited from a Florida prison in 2003, 18 years later the commonly known “Six” now purely “exists within the grey” and to coin the recruiter’s phrase “to kill bad guys”. Trained to be a “ghost”, he’s arguably also a ghost from a previous regime that’s under internal attack and from many different angles and in the form of many differing dark actors. Whether it’s the hand to hand combat expertise and quick thinking of Jason Bourne or the sophistication and nous of James Bond to squeeze out of the tightest of all possible spots, Ryan Gosling is, naturally, fantastic, and in a bravura performance that calls heavily on the Bourne franchise but which he fills here in a performance of tongue in cheek, performance heavy excellence.
Should you be seeking two hours of escapist fun with a heart, as well as the annoyingly handsome good looks of Ryan Gosling, I heartily recommend this to you.
Thanks for reading. More spoiler free rambling? Please feel free to take a peek at my three most recently published film review articles linked here:
“The Contractor” (2022)
Disappointing after a very promising beginningmedium.com
“Umma” (2022)
Empty mother and daughter horror talemedium.com