‘In the Grey’ Delivers Familiar Ritchie Action—for Better and Worse
Guy Ritchie built his reputation on smart action-comedy hits like Snatch and Sherlock Holmes. Ritchie’s new film, In the Grey, is exactly what you’d come to expect from the English director. An overwhelmingly attractive cast meticulously plans a mission in order to trump a powerful villain. While the plot may be familiar, that doesn’t prevent the film from being a fun and exciting adventure.
It follows a group of skilled professionals who coerce the ultra-wealthy to pay their debts. They are led by Rachel (Eiza González), a lawyer who operates between the lines of legal and illegal—in the grey area between them. Along with a team of specialists in the legal realm, she works with two men who specialize in the less-than-legal world. Sid (Henry Cavill) and Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) are elite extraction specialists. With masterful expertise, they can work people as well as they can work munitions, and they can look really, really cool doing it.
The story begins with a billion-dollar debt owed by a sinister man named Salazar (Carlos Bardem). Salazar has killed men that have tried to get him to pay his debts before, and asset managers are stumped on how to recoup their losses. Enter Rachel and her team. Through grey means and slick methods, she is able to bring Salazar’s international business operations to a halt. With Salazar requesting a sit-down on his island, the crew prepares contingency plans for every possibility. With painstakingly detailed planning sequences, the execution of said plans in the final act pays off with satisfying, action-filled results.
