A debt-recovery lawyer and her team of mercenary fixers take on a criminal tycoon who owes a billion dollars in In the Grey, opening in Prague cinemas this weekend after debuting stateside last month. This slick Guy Ritchie thriller features an engrossing 25-minute sequence devoted to planning a high-risk extraction and another 25 minutes watching that plan unfold under fire, but the larger narrative surrounding those set pieces is often senseless, and the film struggles to give its central conflict any kind of emotional weight.
For a long stretch, however, In the Grey is tremendously entertaining, settling into a procedural rhythm as Sid (Henry Cavill) and Bronco Beauregard (Jake Gyllenhaal) prepare to extract lawyer Rachel Wild (Eiza González) from the island stronghold of criminal kingpin Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem). We watch their team scout terrain, test routes, evaluate contingencies, and prepare for every imaginable disaster; it’s the sort of nuts-and-bolts planning that made classic heist films so compelling, and Ritchie wisely gives these scenes room to breathe.
Even better, the film understands the value of payoff. When the inevitable confrontation arrives, we are fully aware of every moving piece of the operation because we’ve spent so much time watching it being plotted out Every backup plan, vehicle, and escape route suddenly matters. The climax becomes exciting not simply because bullets are flying, but because we understand exactly what’s at stake when each carefully arranged piece begins to fail. It’s a reminder that suspense is often more effective than surprise.
Cavill and Gyllenhaal carry these sections almost effortlessly. Both actors have spent much of the past decade trapped in mediocre franchise filmmaking, but here they remind audiences why they became stars in the first place. Their easy charisma and understated chemistry evoke the cool professionalism of classic European crime thrillers, and the two stars are operating in the same kind of cinematic realm as Alain Delon or Jean-Paul Belmondo.
The performances work despite a near-total lack of character development. Sid, Bronco, and the rest of their crew—played by Emmett J. Scanlan, Kojo Attah, Jason Wong, Christian Ochoa Lavernia, and others—receive almost no backstory, yet the audience understands who they are through action rather than explanation. Their competence, loyalty, and relationships emerge naturally from watching them work together under pressure.
The villains are similarly effective. Bardem’s Salazar is suitably loathsome as the billionaire criminal at the center of the plot, while Kristofer Hivju brings his usual imposing presence as chief enforcer Axel Oloffson. Fisher Stevens also makes the most of a supporting role as Salazar’s oily lawyer Mr. Horowitz. They may not be particularly complex antagonists, but they’re entertainingly slimy and easy to root against.
Unfortunately, In the Grey begins to unravel whenever it shifts focus to the larger narrative. On paper, González’s character should be the protagonist: she’s the lawyer whose billion-dollar recovery mission drives the story. Yet learn almost nothing about her beyond her professional role; at one point, two characters she knows by first name are killed in front of her, and we never learn who they were or what they meant to her. While this kind of no-nonsense characterization works for Sid and Bronco, Rachel becomes an entirely passive presence during the majority of the movie, serving as cargo to be rescued rather than an active participant in events.
The screenplay’s treatment of Rachel creates larger problems for the entire plot. Her determination to recover Salazar’s debt on behalf of a massive New York corporation raises questions the film never answers. Why is she willing to risk her life, and cause the deaths of dozens of people, for a company that clearly intends to exploit her? The promise of a massive payday isn’t enough to make the story’s escalating body count feel meaningful.
Rosamund Pike is also largely wasted as corporate executive Bobby Sheen, despite bringing her usual sharp intelligence to the role. The same could be said of much of the supporting cast surrounding Rachel’s side of the story. Whenever the film ventures into discussions of billion-dollar loans, corporate asset recovery, and financial maneuvering, the narrative becomes increasingly muddled. It’s difficult to stay invested in stakes that never feel sensibly explained.
Still, Ritchie remains an immensely capable action filmmaker. The Tenerife locations are gorgeous, the pacing rarely drags, and the director’s visual confidence keeps the film moving even when the script loses its way. Like the recent Fuze, In the Grey finds considerable excitement in watching skilled professionals execute complex plans. The difference is that Fuze built its entire narrative around that procedural framework, while In the Grey keeps interrupting its strongest material with a story that never quite comes together.
Despite its flaws, In the Grey remains an easy recommendation for fans of old-school action thrillers. Cavill and Gyllenhaal are immensely likable, the extraction planning and execution sequences are first-rate, and Ritchie stages the action with his customary flair. The surrounding plot never gels in any meaningful way, but when the film focuses on competent professionals solving problems under pressure, it’s enormously entertaining. If only the rest of the movie were as carefully constructed as the extraction plan at its center.
