Distance from the MCU has not been kind to the Russo duo, Anthony and Joe. In 2021, their adaptation of Cherry was a critical flop that everyone forgot about after a good night’s rest. In 2022, The Gray Man is an adaptation of the Mark Greany novel, and the Russo Bros. seem to be using it as a launchpad to ape their inspirations. In press tours of the MCU’s past, they’ve repeatedly noted films like Heat, The French Connection, and Three Days of the Condor as inspirations for the films they would go on to make. None of the films they would make in that universe seemed to showcase any semblance of that, but the house style of the MCU could have suppressed it. There was hope that they could shed the skin of the MCU’s guaranteed success, and step into their own spotlight.
Cherry validated anyone who was suspicious of their form, and The Gray Man is a double dose of affirmation. Disorienting and hideous, this 200 million dollar slugfest is an emotionally defunct piece of work that should land as one of the year’s worst films.
There is a stark difference between “action” and “fodder”. When written well, action is often used as the physical extension of an idea, a conflict, or a desire. When applied, it can develop themes or arcs to a degree that reconfigures the shape of the film and the journey ahead. Great action keeps us guessing. Wows us. Uses space to harness that conflict between good and evil in a more literal sense. The Gray Man is none of that. It isn’t “action”, its violent fodder that unties every narrative seam that may have been keeping it together. There are nine setpieces in this film (a selling point during press tours that is more concerning than exciting), and not a single one is good. Conceivably, they are all poor to begin with. In addition, the choreography is unfathomable. It might be decent, but the way the Russos continue to cut around action hides the effort their performers and crew are putting in. Not only is it a disservice to them, but what is it in service of? Do they know? It seems like they never have. This goes without mentioning the horrific misuse of drone shots in a year where Michael Bay mastered it in his own action film, Ambulance. If you need a quick lesson on how NOT to shoot action, the first scene will be a masterclass.
Reteaming with the Russos on their cinematic journey are the two other peas in the pod, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. A screenwriting duo that has shared the stage with them since The Winter Soldier. Best known for their work in the MCU including Endgame and Thor: The Dark World, Markus and McFeely have to be amongst the worst screenwriters still getting work. Much like the Russos, they are vehemently obsessed with making decisions that service no one in their story. It is difficult to explain how little emotion can be found in any of this. You would think it impossible for anyone to not conjure up a single moment of consciousness in a script, but they found a way. All of The Gray Man is mindless action beats, but they couldn’t even make time to give us a reason to root for anyone. They introduce a subplot about 35 minutes in that is so misplaced it seems like the movie hit “reset”. A scene that is supposed to be the emotional crutch of the primary storyline, and it's botched. This is because they didn’t establish an emotion to carry the story forward. There is such a visceral love affair with dumb action, that they forgot the primary component to making it worthwhile. Does anyone involved in this production understand the fundamentals of storytelling at all?
Ryan Gosling might be the only person involved that isn’t an accessory to this expensive disaster, but even his talents are wasted. In his first performance since Damien Chazelle’s, First Man, Gosling is a hopelessly inert nobody. Infused with zero personality or Gosling charm, his protagonist isn’t likable or remotely interesting. Nothing about his journey is emblematic of the films that supposedly inspired these guys. John McClane is cool because he is a gruff wise ass stripped to the barest form of himself. We find out who he is based on how he interacts with people, and the action (as mentioned earlier) is an extension of that identity. Gosling is just really good at his job all of the time. None of his strengths are challenged or met by any sort of conflict that would deny him access to the greater parts of himself. Chris Evans certainly isn’t that. Boasting a mid-80s pornstache as some poor excuse for “personality”, his performance has to be a career low. Not only is his villain sidelined as quickly as he is introduced, but he isn’t interesting either. He quips a little bit (none of which are funny in the slightest), flexes through tight shirts, and has no reason to exist as the foil other than, “the script needed one.”
The Gray Man is egregiously bad across all quadrants of storytelling and film-making. There isn’t one interesting set or costume, nor one memorable line or moment. It is a helpless, careless, multi-hundred million dollar chasm of incomprehensible action, wasted resources, talent, and time for everyone. The Russo Bros., just two films out from under the impenetrable bunker of the MCU, have made two respectively terrible films. There isn’t a single imaginative image, palpable emotion, distinct film-making trait or style to be found in either Cherry or The Gray Man. The latter is worse than the former because of how hard it is to make something this big look and feel so bad when there are so many examples that make hard work look easy. The only reason these guys are getting any work is because they were the lucky names attached to a couple films that were guaranteed monumental hits. It has absolutely nothing to do with their contributions to the medium, because they aren’t giving any. They’ve robbed Apple TV and Netflix blind, and robbed the viewer of their time. When the only recognizable trait attached to your name is big location cards, it might be time to pack it up.
If Joe Russo sincerely believes that going to the movie theater is a sacred ritual that is some sort of “elitist” act, then he has every right to hold that (baffling) opinion. That doesn’t give him the right to act smug because he and his brother got handed the keys to a winning formula and believe they’re some pioneers of the new film distribution frontier. In some regards, it may be the biggest self-own if he really believes his talents are worth being unceremoniously dumped onto a streaming service and forgotten about by the turn of the week ahead. His months-long effort making absolutely no financial or artistic contribution to contemporary cinema other than being a movie lost in the web of a streaming service’s algorithm. Funny.