Ryan Gosling’s Netflix R-Rated Thriller With MCU Budget Worth Its Weight in Shooting
Written by Robert Scucci | Published
After watching 2021 KateThe power algorithm threw 2022 The Man in Gray on my radar, and I can’t say that Ryan Gosling has ever let me down, so I thought I’d give it a shot. He has a built-in level of charisma that allows him to do his thing, and most of the time it lasts. Going into a Russo brothers film expecting to see $200 million well spent on action sequences, with the added bonus of Gosling in the mix, I had no idea how things would turn out, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t be disappointed.
But here’s the problem with streaming action thrillers. The same movies The Man in Gray never get too much time on the big screen, and they need it if you want to enjoy them at the highest level. In nearly 400 theaters, the film only brought in $454,023, which isn’t really its fault. It had a very short run across a relatively small number of screens, meaning it wasn’t meant to recoup its budget this way. It’s a Netflix Original, designed to draw big numbers on streaming.
The reason I see this as a bad thing is because this is an expensive movie. The MCU is expensive. The land of water it is expensive. When that much money goes into blowing things up in spectacular fashion, I want to see it on the big screen. I live in an apartment, I don’t have a great sound setup because my neighbors would kill me if I did, and my 44 inch TV is good for most things, but it’s under a star where every city square is equal and every gun is blazing.
Long story short, The Man in Gray it’s a lot of fun, but it would be even more fun if you could look at it the way it was meant to be seen.
We don’t skimp on the details
The Man in Gray and has a very complex structure. Not in a “lots of twists” way, but a “load the guns, spray and pray” kind of movie that would have been better delivered with simplicity. It’s well done, but as the side characters continue to be introduced in the second and third act, part of me is annoyed that I can’t completely shut my brain off because there’s always a new name or face to track down after the explosion starts.
Ryan Gosling is a black ops agent known as Sierra Six, formerly Courtland Gentry. Locked up as a child after murdering his abusive father, CIA officer Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) decides he deserves a second chance. The deal is simple: Courtland works for him to get his freedom, knowing that he will be dealing with very dangerous people.
When things go smoothly, the Sierra Six meet up with Agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas), and the first mission we see involves killing a target named Dining Car (Callan Mulvey). Problems arise when the job goes sideways and the Dining Car reveals that he was also part of Sierra’s plan before getting injured. A flash drive is passed along with vague instructions, and a wild goose chase begins, centering on CIA officer Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page), who sends dozens of operatives after Six and Dani to retrieve it.
Along the way, we learn more about Six’s relationship with Donald and his niece Claire (Julia Butters), for whom Six previously worked for security detail. This obviously becomes important later because additional collateral has entered the equation. The scenes between Six and Claire provide a dramatic break from the chaos of Prague, and are welcome.
From here on out, you know the deal well. Double crosses are piled on top of double crosses, things explode, and there’s so much confusion between the parties about who’s right and who’s pulling the strings that you just wish they’d just come out of nowhere and keep blowing things up.
Solid, Pulse Pounding Action Thriller
The Gray Man’s The budget is completely visible on the screen from start to finish. The action sequences are well shot (something that isn’t always the same in all Netflix Originals), and at one point Sierra Six is standing on top of a moving tram, shooting through the ceiling while tracking targets through nearby windows as the city flies by. This comes after he was handcuffed in the town square, picking off the attackers before they even had a chance to get him out.
Ana de Armas holding a gun after throwing her hands is worth your time because she gives her all when the time calls for it.
The only real problem I have is the film’s tendency to overfill its premise with complexity for its own sake. Most people don’t turn on action thrillers to do mental gymnastics. At least I don’t want to. I like psychological thrillers when I want things to be murky, but with action movies, I just want to sit back and watch things explode.
The puzzle structure is not a shortcut, just a nitpick. Some people enjoy shadow government conspiracies. Not really my thing, so take that with a grain of salt. It’s still a great watch, just not one you can sink into the couch and turn your mind off completely.
The Man in Gray it’s a Netflix Original, and you can stream it with an active subscription.
