James Gray delivers a gritty family crime drama.
“Paper Tiger,” James Gray’s latest take on the American Dream in the 1980s, is a major improvement on his last film “Armageddon Time.” It doesn’t have bratty kids, strict parents, or cynicism, which disenchanted me during my previous viewing of that film. Instead, it has the parents and their children dealing with the harsh realities of life. There are business deals with the wrong crowds, family drama, and kids caught in the middle of all this. In fact, it may be the better version of that film. A true example of the American Dream with its opportunities and consequences.
As the movie opens, an engineer family man named Irwin Pearl (Miles Teller) and his older former cop brother Gary (Adam Driver) both seek a business opportunity with the Russian mafia. He has the know how and he has the words, so they’re able to score a deal that could set Irwin’s family for a long time. Especially since his wife Hester (Scarlett Johansson) crashes her car and since their eldest son Scott (Gavin Goudey) is off to college soon. And the kids are the ones who want a hot new car.
One night, Irwin decides to take his boys Scott and Ben (Roman Engel) for a trip around the area to give them some life lessons. But en route, he notices a safety hazard on the Russians’ site and tries to inform them about it. They get scared of the surprise visit, because they were in the middle of illegally dumping oil. Simeon Bogoyavich (Victor Ptak) is the take-no-prisoners boss, the kind you should fear. And now, they begin to threaten him and his family. And Gary did warn his brother that these guys are paranoid, but he’s willing to help him and his family out of danger.
On the side, the reason why Hester crashes her car is because she has been suffering from migraines, and finds out from her doctor that she may be terminally ill. She refuses to tell her husband about her turmoil, but she does break down when she finds out what her husband has gotten their kids and himself into. It probably would have been louder in other hands, but the volume is mild here, and very well acted.
“Paper Tiger” likes to play like a classic Clint Eastwood movie towards the end when Gary is pursued by the bad guys through tall grass. And without giving much away, it plays that scene with a silent and windy ambiance that really keeps us at the edge of our seats. It almost feels like we’re in the 70s or 80s when we’re watching that sequence. Gray has taken on crime movies before like “Little Odessa” and “We Own the Night,” and he presents these crime scenes with humanity.
Only a few parts of the movie cop out a bit, but the rest is entertaining as we see the dangers the two brothers get into within their American Dream. Driver and Teller are both exceptional in how they merge into their roles with versatility and gritty dialogue. And Johansson gives an emotional performance as the housewife dealing with an illness, while trying to keep it from her husband. These are professional stars, who don’t exploit their own hits and broaden their horizons. And if you remember, Driver and Johansson were both exceptional and daring in “Marriage Story.”
I like an old-fashioned crime drama that takes similar but unique angles, and I like when the genre breaks free from the formulas. “Paper Tiger” is interested in these characters and the genre itself, and therefore, we should be interested in them, too. “Armageddon Time” is too difficult of a James Gray movie for me to watch, but his latest entry isn’t, and that’s refreshing.
In Select Theaters This Friday
Expands Next Week
