‘Paper Tiger’: What The Critics Are Saying About James Gray’s Film

James Gray’s sixth film at the Cannes Film Festival, Paper Tiger, drew a ten-minute standing ovation last night following its world premiere at the Grand Theatre Lumiere.

The movie, starring Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and Miles Teller, follows two brothers who pursue the American Dream but get entangled in a dangerous Russian mafia scheme that terrorizes their family. Bonds are tested and betrayal boils. Neon is handling the domestic release.

The movie has been met with largely positive notices. There have been a number of very enthusiastic responses, with many praising the acting and filmmaking. There have also been a handful of reviews that were more mixed but still found elements to enjoy.

Deadline called the film a “riveting” crime drama: “With stunning cinematography from Joaquin Baca-Asay, individual scenes really pop, including a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase as Gary tries to evade Russians tailing him. He loses himself in a tall deserted wheat field, weaving in and out of this maze as we eventually see his pursuers doing the same. Shot both within and above, this visually striking location is reminiscent of Cary Grant being chased by a crop duster in North by Northwest. This just might be the single finest scene Gray ever has staged. I was on the edge of my seat.”

The Guardian gave the film 4/5 stars, calling it a “heavyweight saga” and a “sombre and impressive story of shady dealings in 80s New York.”

The UK’s Telegraph also gave it 4/5 stars, describing Scarlett Johansson as “terrific in this grubbily engrossing crime thriller” and saying it “feels like a fond throwback to The French Connection.”

Time magazine was also enthusiastic, writing about the film: “Some thriller are enjoyable enough, and suspenseful enough, while you’re watching them, and vaporize the instant the credits roll. But there’s another, much rarer kind of thriller: one that follows you home, giving you the feeling you’re being shadowed by a thief, someone or something who stirs in you a fear of loss that wasn’t there before…Paper Tiger is that second kind.”

Indiewire raved about the movie, saying “Adam Driver gives a career-best performance” and calling it a “devastating tragedy”: “Like all of James Gray’s best films, Paper Tiger is both sweepingly mythic and hauntingly personal all at once.”

The Hollywood Reporter called it “arguably the director’s best film” and says it “delivers big time”: “Gray and his superb cast are in blazing form and full command here in a bruising movie that reveals the heavy price of pursuing the American Dream too recklessly.”

Meanwhile, ScreenDaily commented: “As is often the case with this writer-director, Gray’s film has a dim view of the American Dream but, if some of the script’s contours are familiar, Paper Tiger’s quiet intensity and growing sibling tension make it a compelling experience.”

Next Best Picture said: “There are flashes throughout of the filmmaker at his absolute best, enough to remind audiences why Gray remains one of America’s most compelling storytellers, but taken as a whole, Paper Tiger ultimately feels like a lesser entry in his filmography.”

The UK’s Radio Times saw things it liked but was also reluctant to crown the film: “Adam Driver is terrific in a crime drama that grips but never quite soars.”

Variety was also mixed, saying it had “more atmosphere than plausibility”: “The movie is engineered to be seen as “powerful.” Right now, though, I’d say that he’s an ace director who’s still being undercut by the holes in his screenplays.”