In the Grey (Black Bear)
2.5 stars (out of 4)
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiva González, Carlos Bardem, Michael Vu, Fisher Stevens, and Rosamund Pike.
Available in theaters
Why are we loyal to a person, a cause, an idea? A complex concept, to be sure, especially for such a simplistic time-killer as In the Grey, the latest release from director Guy Ritchie.
Ritchie (RocknRoll; Snatch; Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels) is one of Britain’s best directors of adrenaline-fueled blockbusters. His stylized approach to filmmaking and editing is easily recognizable: the quick cuts, the chapter-like narrative flow, the large and often unexpected graphics superimposed on shots, the black-humor banter, and the grim violence committed by handsome men with expensive wristwatches in pursuit of money or revenge. These are the letters of Ritchie’s signature. And we find them here in full measure.
But as Ritchie has matured as a director, those of us who have followed his career are right to expect a more mature storytelling (the director writes almost all his own screenplays). And thus, the problem with In the Grey.
Those looking for a juicy action flick will find it here. Those hoping for something more compelling, meaningful, or profound are likely to find themselves standing at the roadside, ears still ringing from the splat of rapid-fire weapons, the roar of military choppers, the boom of grenades, and the whirr of weaponized military-grade drones. For many viewers, that will suffice. After all, you go to a Guy Ritchie movie to see, well, a Guy Ritchie movie.
But let me return to loyalty for a moment. It’s a terrific topic, one that can be explored and analyzed endlessly. Allegiance. Fidelity. Commitment. What’s their source? What motivates people to devote themselves to a person or an ideal? This is not thin gruel. Yet it seems to have passed Ritchie by in this otherwise entertaining movie.
The setup is straightforward: Gangster kingpin Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem) has borrowed $1 billion from Spencer Goldstein, an investment firm, to fund his widespread (and largely unspoken) businesses. According to Salazar, the investment didn’t work out, so no refunds. But the financier responsible for the loan, Bobby Sheen (Rosamund Pike, with not enough to do), is insistent: Pay your debt!
So, Sheen hires the stylish, self-possessed, and utterly unbelievable Rachel Wild (Eiza González), a young negotiator specializing in debt collection. Wild’s muscle? Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Sid (Henry Cavill), whom she apparently rescued from a horrible jail cell in Chiang Mai, Thailand. No further explanation offered.
Why did she rescue them? How did she rescue them? With what crime were they charged? How did she choose them, in particular, to rescue? What were they doing in Chiang Mai? Questions, questions, questions. If only we had answers.
For whatever unexplained reason, Sid and Bronco feel such an obligation to Rachel that they have become her hired killers. Most people would thank her for bailing them out of jail and leave it at that. But Sid and Bronco, on Rachel’s behalf, steal money, risk their lives, and eliminate anyone who happens to cross her path.
That’s not loyalty. That’s mania and murder, pure and simple. Is that what we’re looking at here? Or is there something deeper, something undisclosed?
So, what do we think of Bronco and Sid, our handsome, muscular killers? What do we think of the four other operatives they’ve corralled to help Ms. Wild collect the $1 billion and return it to Bobby Sheen? One assumes all the participants will receive a healthy payday, but their commitment to the plan goes beyond money. They seem to worship their boss, whom they all call “Mom.”
But why the tenderness and loyalty to Mom?
Salazar, the crook with the cash, lives on a Spanish island off the coast of northwest Africa. He owns the police, and has an army of 50 private soldiers. Wild plans to negotiate for the money’s return in Salazar’s penthouse apartment, while Sid and Bronco must consider everything that can go wrong: multiple ways to get on and off the island, laying booby traps in the event of a chase, placing listening devices in the lairs of the enemy, collecting weapons for the inevitable shoot-em-up sequences, arranging for multiple means of transportation, and more.
These guys aren’t just planning for every contingency. They’re the pros who wrote the instruction manual.
But it’s all too easy. They bribe a port superintendent to lock up Salazar’s ship “under maritime law.” Rachel gets authorities to impound Salazar’s plane based on “international law.” They’ve got a New York judge in their pocket who backs up their every legal maneuver. Salazar soon realizes he doesn’t stand a chance—except for the final chase scene that has Guy Ritchie’s fingerprints all over it.
Gyllenhaal and Cavill are superb as cartoonish he-men. Emmett J. Scanlan is frightening as Salazar’s head of security. And Fisher Stevens is hilarious as Salazar’s put-upon attorney. Carlos Bardem is a competent actor, but his Salazar doesn’t project the sense of danger required of a super-villain. And Eiza González, as international financial negotiator Rachel Wild, has the poise but not the no-nonsense menace required of someone in her position.
At one point, during an intense battle, one of the good guys under Bronco and Sid gives his life for Rachel, the ultimate test of fidelity. But why? There’s no rationale for it, nor for the risky business joyfully engaged in by the rest of Rachel’s foot soldiers.
On the other hand, you don’t go to a boxing match to hear a discourse on Socrates. For faithful fans of Ritchie’s films, In the Grey will do nothing to harm their loyalty. They’ll be glad to get a 98-minute dose of semi-mindless action, where chase scenes, bombs, and hunky heroes are far more important than analysis and logic.
Author Bio:
Mark Orwoll writes about film and travel for Highbrow Magazine.
For Highbrow Magazine