The Gray Man

The Gray Man

When a shadowy CIA agent uncovers damning agency secrets, he's hunted across the globe by a sociopathic rogue operative who's put a bounty on his head.

  • Released: 2022-07-15
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Adventure, Thrillers
  • Stars: Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Wagner Moura, Jessica Henwick, Dhanush, Julia Butters, Alfre Woodard, Billy Bob Thornton, Regé-Jean Page, Eme Ikwuakor, Scott Haze, Deobia Oparei, Daz Crawford, Robert Kazinsky, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Aishwarya Sonar, Callan Mulvey, Robert Kazinsky, Sam Lerner, Michael Gandolfini, Karen Jin Beck, Kath Leroy, Dana Aliya Levinson, Matthew Bellows, Kate Blumberg, Nadiv Molcho, Martin Harris, Patrick Newall, Becky Wu, Jamal Antar, Justin Walker White, Joe Daru, Kendall Wells, Shea Whigham, Charlit Dae, Cameron Crovetti, Chris Castaldi, Jeremy Tichy, Marián Mitaš, Petr Semerád, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Adam Bartlett, Eme Ikwuakor, Anthony J. Vorhies, Quinn R. Somasavachai, Siri Schwartzberg, Faye Nightingale, Alexander Minajev, DJ Shy, Angela Russo-Otstot, Maria Darkina, Kaipo Schwab, Emanuel Felix, Michael Anthony Rogers, Oleg Kim, Irina Aylyarova, Karel Heřmánek, Michelle Twarowska, Michel Carliez, Grace Russo, Lia Russo, Camille Marquez, Brent McGee, Belén Cusí, Faouzi Brahimi, Paul Abell, Andy Watts, Steffen Aaron Dziczek, Ian Stone, R. Ben Parker, Swen Gillberg, William Barkley, Stepan Radina, Joe Russo, Isaac Stephen Montgomery, Marc Forget, Boone Platt, Gee Alexander, Dennis Kunkel, Steven Sievert, Gordon Tarpley, Steffen Oziczek
  • Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
 Comments
  • iktogay - 10 May 2024
    Could say a good movie if it had it facts right
    Action wise not bad of a movie... At one point of the movie they are filming in Baku, Azerbaijan. Which is predominantly muslim, not orthodox nor catholic so their national ceremonies for soldiers are usually not including an orthodox pope swinging a smoke handle as displayed in the movie. Plus Azerbaijan is a secular country so no governmental ceremony will have religious support. Why do Americans always show countries in differen it ways in movies? Its a shame that the world always sees a side thats not real just because of these movies made in the states. Cant they just be realistic and make real movies about the countries? Why is it always that US cities are showed the best but other cities are shown for their worst parts?
  • AnotherRandomReviewer - 31 March 2024
    Rock bottom filmmaking
    I don't usually give such a low rating because I always try to be balanced when I assess a movie. Too many people give 0/10 or 10/10 for films with no in between when usually nothing is that bad or good. But this film richly deserves to be completely panned.

    I don't blame the actors or the stunt people (who do top notch work here) but the writers and producers. This is film is cosmically stupid.

    There is so little resemblance to anything like reality in this movie that it might well have been a cartoon, and even that would be an insult to cartoons. No intelligence agency would do anything like in this movie. It's like they asked a 5-year old what they thought spies do and then filmed that.

    For example, the major action scene in the film where the agency chasing the hero stages an all out attack that kills dozens of police officers in an allied country. This would cause a diplomatic break between the USA and the ally and would be worldwide news. But it is shrugged off as just a mess that the agency will have to sweep under the rug.

    Anyways, you might as well watch random stunt scenes from random movies and guess what? You'd still end up with something more entertaining that made more sense than this abomination.
  • gareth77-1 - 2 February 2024
    Excellent action, comedy and fun!
    LOVE this movie!!

    It's funny, high quality action, great fight scenes and a touch of warmth!

    It's basically everything I love in a solid action film.

    No heavy thinking or twists, it ain't that kinda movie.

    Has an enjoyable light rhythm to it with my kind of humour.

    Seeing Gosling in a tight action film is so great, I think he carried it well in his usual detached Mr Cool guy vibe haha!

    And hearing a reference to him as "Ken doll" in the movie was hilarious, sitting in 2023/4 😂 😂

    If you like the witty banter the writers have injected into their other films in the Marvel universe, you'll love their screenplay for this too.

    Given the Russo Bros extensive experience in action and fight scene directing, they brought that solidly into The Gray Man.

    Fast scenes, expensive shoot-outs, exotic locations...it has it all!!
  • vircanem - 6 January 2023
    Such a cliché
    Terrible plot and brainless sorta movie. There is not one moment where it actually requires any thinking ir guessing from you. Just sit back, shut down your thinking process and watch the avalanche of choreography and absurd shooting scenes. Despicable story.

    It suffers greatly from the need to appease to every average white male who sees themselves as some sort of bat hero that can go anywhere in the world and wreak havoc on the assumption that Americans can get away with anything, anywhere.

    Too many shootouts, too many car chases, too many bodies piled and not enough substance. Zero intrigue.
  • bjhex1 - 27 December 2022
    About 2 hours and 9 minutes too long
    The best thing to be said about this movie is that the laboriously extended periods of absurdly gratuitous violence distracts from the vapidity of the dialogue. If you are a fan of witty quips and off the cuff one-liners... you'll need to look elsewhere. Far away elsewhere. And it's not merely that the words spoken are stupid, they're predictably stupid.

    And that's before we get to the acting. I'll only give a pass to AdA, as she was the only character even remotely relatable. All the others were alternately over the top, lethargic or manic. It's always dicey using child actors, but even by that standard, this performance was ludicrous, obviously egged on by director.

    Granted, I'm not an expert in this genre. It was not my choice to view this. And as related above, really nothing to recommend it. But above all else, the ridiculously simplistic moral universe created in this movie, is the result of lazy, undisciplined and unenlightened minds, and is an insult to audiences of critical thinkers.
  • tommdennehy - 1 December 2022
    Unoriginal but exciting nonetheless
    The Gray Man is a relatively exciting action movie that feels like it's been done before. Quiet bad guy turned good; corrupt government agency; a villain who's as mad as a box of frogs.

    It's slick and polished and has some great action sequences. It's pacey and keeps your attention. Ryan Gosling is... we'll Ryan Gosling. Looks a little uninterested most of the time but plays the role well enough. Chris Evans is interesting as the madcap villain.

    It's the story that lets this film down. It's about as predictable as a holiday season train strike. There's very little that's original in this movie. The script tries to be humorous and moving at times but feels half hearted most of the time.

    It's worth a watch so long as your expectations aren't too high.
  • Rodrigo_Amaro - 13 November 2022
    I'm okay with it, it's fine but it could have been so much better
    Netflix most expensive delivery to date is a quite good thrilling film, no doubt about that. But on the other hand, I wonder where did all the money go and I also wonder if it was ever necessary such a large spending into a popcorn flick with many problematic going against it when better films can achieve marvelous results without the same amount. I know those things (money and quality) don't usually go hand in hand but in critical economical times it sure would be an über-bingo" when it comes to presenting an entertaining film.

    I liked the movie. Sure did. But I was expecting a lot more considering the names involved; some of them deliver all the goods but other less known names really bothered me and it's mostly related to the technical craftsmen involved than the actual actors and I'll go deeper with that thought but first I'm all for the goods that we had here. "The Gray Man" had a cliched yet cool humored story about an ex-convict (Ryan Gosling, effective as always) turned into an obscure CIA agent perfectly trained to kill without questioning who gets into a lot of trouble after finding out some dirt on his employees and they hire a psychotic agent (Chris Evans) to chase him down, get a stolen oject from him and terminate his career. Your typical spy game story with plenty of action and thrills, and I'm fair to say almost everything works without much damage. But be ready for a rumble adventure with lots of over-the-top moments that can leave you either excited with everything you're about to see or shaking his head in disbelief or annoyance. One unbelievable sequence after another, but that's what movies are for...to make us dream sometimes.

    Sometimes those moments work very fine - like the sqaure shooting when Evans crew wildly attack everyone just to get Gosling - and other times it's painfully exaggerated like the fight in the plane and its aftermath.

    However, the bumps along the way related with the directors and the crew involved made me think less of this film almost to a nauseating point. Famous for the "Captain America" flicks, the Russo brothers sure know how to deliver a visual spectacle with great actors involved (but they're a lot better when the actors are the main point of attraction rather than the big budget effects). But with "The Gray Man" there were so many bothering things that disappointed the heck out of me such as the gross editing which doesn't allow viewers to see the film, specially in the action sequences where it's hard to understand what's happening and who's beating who; the visual effects are too fake for its own sake - had it been in the 1990's they'd look a lot more realistic; but the worst that got me was the cinematography. I'm yet to see an action film dark, so dark you can't see anything happening. I know this is a film about special agents and their dark worlds but this thing was impossible to look at it time and again and I kept forcing my sight through it all. Fights in the dark, shots in the dark, conversation in the dark and then the girl spy just blow up the power to enter a veterinarean lab. A movie is made to be seen, not to obscured by weird with some aesthetic that reflects the characters.

    On a conversation about deeper themes as the story, it's a mashup of overseen things put together that somehow manage to work except for some bits in the final minutes which was a complete turn-off for me. It almost angered me.

    As said once, I liked the film. The acting is quite good but almost no one gets the chance to make a great use of humor in a film with plenty of dark humored moments (minor laughter effect and we know this could get a lot higher).

    Gosling is the usual hero we root for, pretty good; Evans with his porn-stache and frightening ways is almost hilarious but he steals the show playing the antagonist; but Billy Bob Thornton and Angela Bassett who get the highlights with the best scenes in the movie. And we have Wagner Moura stealing the show as the talkative helpful tech-guy. They're all fun to watch and made of this something worth remembering just to have some kicks, and make audiences indulgence themselves in the extravagance of the moment.

    But to close it down as I begin while questioning budget and result, it's a disappointing thing to see. But Hollywood has done a lot worse, higher values and higher mistakes from which we never recovered, neither some careers.

    To be fair, this is not a career-killer, neither a disaster of epic proportions - you just get the vibes of that. But was it worth the risk of delivering a lot less than we'd expect? In a movie where it's impossible to see with countless technical problems that get nearly close to ruin the enjoyment? You be the judge. I've seen worse and I've seen better, and this one gets some credit and respect because they tried. 8/10.
  • gabrielcarusm - 3 November 2022
    A masterpiece full of great clichés
    This is the perfect mix between James Bond and Mission Impossible, an entertaining movie with a good plot, great cast members and stunning visual effects. Simply a movie where you feel the tension, you get angry with characters, laugh of some situations and the pacing of the movie is also very well-developed.

    I'm personally a fan of the Russo Brothers' work, they really know how to make a good movie. The Gray Man shows all its potential with not even scratching the surface in terms of being a deep story (yes, it is a shallow story, and it is ok).

    I want to compliment also the VFX/CGI and practical effects: amazing. This is for real a great combination of effects in this movie, you feel the thrills of every scene and everything is well putted together.

    In the end: a great movie, not too deep, well-produced, great cast and for sure an entertaining movie at the end of the day after a busy day.