In the Grey info:
Director: Guy Ritchie
Writer: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Eiza González, and Rosamund Pike
Intro
Hello and welcome to another week here at 1guysmindlessmoviereviews.com. Busy, busy, busy is life at the moment. I feel very fortunate to be busy with my job and family. There are definitely lots of worse ways to eat up your time. Softball season is starting to wind down, and so is the school schedule. I’m also very fortunate to be married to someone who allows me to follow this dream of watching and talking about movies… maybe one day this could be my job.
But until then, I have to find time when I can, so I snuck away (not really) after an event on Saturday evening and made it in time to watch “In the Grey”. I typically don’t like to review movies that just came out, but the timing worked out perfectly for this one. Ok, before I dive into this one, let me get the spoiler warning out of the way. If you haven’t watched it yet, then I would go back to my reviews page and pick out something else you have seen and read about it.
In the Grey recap
So, “In the Grey” starts with Bobby Sheen (Pike), begrudgingly hiring Rachel (González) to get back some money that was taken from them by Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem) (Yes, he’s Javier’s brother). The first thing she does is to bring in her elite special team of Sid (Cavill) and Bronco (Gyllenhaal). The three of them have been working together for years, and they owe her a lot for getting them out of prison.
Each of the two guys has a specialty that they can use to assist Rachel in her job. She has a team on the legal side, and then she had these two guys. As Rachel starts to work her legal magic against Salazar, Sid and Bronco show up on his island and begin making plans for whatever comes their way. Whether that be to fight or extraction, they have a month’s head start before she shows up on the island.
Eventually, Rachel legally takes away most of the resources that Salazar possesses that make him money. He is forced to have his attorney, Horowitz (Fisher Stevens), invite her to his island to talk. After the talks break down, they try to have her killed, and eventually he agrees to pay back all the money. As long as she released all of the holds on his businesses.
The story then takes a turn. As Bobby’s company refuses to release the assets, they also won’t pay Rachel either. So, Salazar kidnaps Rachel to hold her hostage until he gets what he wants. Sid, Bronco, and their team mount a rescue mission with full-on warfare, car chases, and traps along the way. Eventually, they get her off the island, capture Salazar, send him to America, and we are led to believe that Bobby will take the fall for it.
My thoughts on In the Grey
“In the Grey” is very much a tale of two stories. Director Guy Ritchie does what he does best and puts together an action/crime thriller. It’s a full cast of well-dressed characters and witty dialogue. But, in my opinion, the characters weren’t fully understood enough. There were a few things explained about their past, but not nearly as much as there could have been… especially considering the runtime of this film.
A lot of the action scenes were fun and carefully thought out, even if they were unnecessary. I’m mostly referring to the scene when Rachel wants to stop for a beer. I’m certain that they threw that in there so it gives us a good look at how the team can operate, but she was a very smart person, and it made no sense for her to want to stop at that point.
I really liked the cast, and they played off one another very well. I do wish at least one of the two main characters had some personality, though. It was tough at times to watch two strong, straight-laced dudes carry on a conversation with no animation in their actions. It was almost like they were playing the same character at times. I get that playing the tough guy is crucial to their part, but it never stops. González, on the other hand, did a better job in that department. It was really fun to watch her work her magic.
My biggest issue with “In the Grey” was the way it was almost a hard stop, then a time jump. It was like the first hour or so was a heist movie, then the last 40 minutes or so became a rescue mission. It was almost like it wasn’t planned out or something. The heist was fun, and the rescue was fun, but the way they were divided just didn’t cut it.
Overall, it was a fun action movie with a top-notch cast. Ritchie should have been able to run wild with this one, but instead, he kept it tame and way too short. Show us more of the characters’ backstories and a smoother transition between parts. There were bits of a great movie here, but way too many holes to fill in the finished product. This will land right in the middle with a paltry 5 out of 10, and that’s mostly from González’s part in this.
Watch or wait?
Like usual, this is going to be very two-sided. If you’re a huge fan of Guy Ritchie and you love his style, then I would go see this now. You will most likely have a great time seeing it on the big screen. Otherwise, this can wait. Honestly, for as little as it was marketed, I kind of wonder if they even wanted a lot of people to come see it.
Ok, I’m done, which means now it’s your turn. Have you seen “In the Grey” yet? I honestly doubt many people have yet, but if you have, what are your thoughts? Were you also disappointed in the finished product, or are you of a different mindset? Let me know in the comments, and I will be back next week with another mindless movie review of some sort.
