Tuesday, July 26, 2022

The Gray Man: An Engrossing Waste of Time

 
by Pa Rock
Film Fan

I remember watching "The Blues Brothers" more than forty years ago and wondering as the credits rolled at the end of the film, "Would there have been any way to have crashed a few more cars without deleting some of the great music?"  Probably not.

I had a similar thought last night as the credits were rolling on the new Netflix film, " The Gray Man," only now I was focused on mindless violence.  "Would there have been any way to have crammed in some additional torture, gunfire, explosions, fist fights, wild car chases, airplane, helicopter, and car crashes, and panic in the streets of some of the world's most beautiful cities?"  Again, probably not.

For those who are easily offended by on-screen sex, this movie is perfect with no nudity, no sex, and not even any kissing.  (The closest thing to a sex scene was a few seconds of Ryan Gosling shirtless.)  But even with a distinct lack of skin, the movie still managed to get a "PG-13" rating, and the scene with Chris Evans pulling out Billy Bob Thornton's fingernails with a pair of pliers should have taken it to an "R" rating just by itself.

The plot was thin - a clandestine CIA operative (Gosling) was on the run trying to survive a coup within the spy agency - but it was upholstered with enough action, violence, and blood splatter to completely commandeer and hold the viewers' attention.    The noise and carnage never let up!

"The Gray Man" has no obvious redeeming social or cultural value, but once it begins playing, it's a hard movie not to watch.  It is a most engrossing waste of time.

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