PHOTO BY , COURTESY OF AGBO, NETFLIX, AND ROTH FILM
NEW FLICKS: THE GRAY MAN
Where is it playing?: Netflix
What's it rated?: PG-13
Co-directors Anthony and Joe Russo helm this spy thriller about a convicted murderer recruited by the CIA as part of its covert Sierra project of trained assassins. Dubbed Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling), the icy killer under direction from his mentor Donald Fitzroy (Billy Bob Thornton) has been taking out bad guys for 18 years, but then Fitzroy retires and is replaced by Denny Carmichael (Regé-Jean Page), who doesn’t seem to care about collateral damage, leading to a rift between him and Six.
When Six learns Carmichael is targeting other Sierra operatives, he faces off against Carmichael’s most ruthless killer, Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), a morality-free psychopath. Meanwhile, CIA agent Dani Miranda (Ana de Armas) works to sort out whose side she should be on. Action and mayhem follow.
As action films go, there’s clearly a lot of money at work in one spectacular set piece after another, and it’s impossible to deny that Gosling and Evans are anything but supremely watchable. There’s even an emotional element from Six’s abusive childhood and his need to protect Fitzroy’s imperiled niece, Claire (Julia Butters), but something feels hollow here. Maybe things will improve in one of the inevitable sequels, which are teed up nicely. (122 min.)
—Glen Starkey
