Testing the limits of illegality, exceeding them and ultimately slipping completely into the criminal milieu – that is exactly Guy Ritchie’s profession. The British director made it into the A-league with the gangster comedies “Jack, Queen, King, GrAS” (1998) and “Snatch – Pigs and Diamonds” (2000). In the meantime, he made forays into fantasy blockbusters (“King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword”) and into the Disney machine (“Aladdin”), but Ritchie always returns to his roots. This is also the case with his new film “In The Grey”.
The title says it all: once again it goes into moral and legal gray areas. For this Ritchie brought in three stars with whom he has already worked and clearly had good experiences: Henry Cavill (“Codename UNCLE”), Jake Gyllenhaal (“Guy Ritchie’s The Pact”) and Eiza González (“Fountain Of Youth”) embody an unlikely trio who concoct a highly explosive scam. Sounds promising – and initially everything points to a gripping thriller that works according to the rules of a good heist film. But the calculation doesn’t really add up. Even if it involves more gravel than mere mortals can even imagine.
Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Sid (Henry Cavill) are primarily concerned with appearing as cool as possible.
Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem) borrowed a billion dollars. Now the despot is supposed to pay back the sum, but he doesn’t even think about it – and prefers to let it take its chances. So the clever negotiator Rachel Wild (Eiza González) is called in. She is supposed to get the money back using her methods, and they are not always legal. The catch: Salazar resides on a private island and has a private army protecting him. In addition, he doesn’t shy away from having annoying people who get too close to him quickly eliminated.
Rachel still wants to go into the lion’s den and entrusts her life to two men who are loyal to her: the unshakable Sid (Henry Cavill) and his quick-tempered partner Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) are supposed to work out the perfect escape route for Rachel so that she can get off the island alive after her mission. To do this, the once tough guys first have to explore what is possible. Using words, weapons and vehicles, they play through all possible scenarios to save Rachel. They manipulate, threaten and punish until they finally find the only possible route. What else could go wrong?
Tried and tested ingredients, but they don’t really want to ignite
Quite a bit, to be honest – in two senses. On the one hand, it is of course the crux of every heist film that the painstakingly devised plan threatens to fail at the last minute because one little thing was overlooked. This is exactly why genre classics like “Rififi” (1955), “Topkapi” (1964) or “Der Clou” (1973) are so incredibly exciting and style-defining. On the other hand, even in the big finale there is simply no tension.
Nothing works, even though Ritchie, who also wrote the script, turns all the controls of the genre: here an explosion, there a chase, and in addition to the action, there is also a sense of humor with cheeky sayings. Ritchie is certainly not trying to reinvent himself. He moves around his favorite playground and routinely rattles off his program accordingly. But at some point he loses sight of his tough main actors.
Eiza González is the absolute bright spot as the tricky negotiator Rachel Wild!
The characters of Gyllenhaal and Cavill are clearly opposites, but neither chemistry nor an attractive dynamic arises from this. Gyllenhaal’s over-the-top, arrogant acting and Cavill’s stoic composure seem to be in competition with each other. They both want to come across as cool as possible, but it seems fake – which is why at some point you simply don’t care about them. So Eiza González can only win in her role. With elegance and sophistication, she always manages to steal the show from two guys who are trying so hard.
However, this doesn’t create any more tension. This is also due to the fact that the plot loses too much of its drive in the second third, when a complicated double game suddenly slows down the action. “In The Grey” initially hums like a highly tuned, stylish sports car, but in the final spurt it stutters more and more until it only reaches its destination with a bang.
Conclusion: The initial promise of an exciting heist film is only partially fulfilled. From the middle onwards, the plot starts to waver too much, and two cool guys aren’t enough to keep the audience engaged. So you shouldn’t expect anything more than a reasonably entertaining action trip.