James Gray delivers his career best work in his spellbinding crime thriller about two brothers chasing the American dream.
Of all the films shown at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, no other image will top the final shot of James Gray’s melodrama thriller, Paper Tiger. A simple slit diopter shot of Irwin Pearl (Miles Teller) looking at his two sons reflected against the window walking off into the distance towards Irwin’s face. What preceded this shot is nothing short of a tale of brothers pursuing the American dream and its inner structures that lies the two sides of the moral ends. Additionally, this shot is an example of Gray’s masterful mise-en-scene, exceptional lighting, camera movements, editing rhythms, and tonal control. In the heart of this crime story is the unconditional familial bond brothers have, tragically succumbing to one’s pride for the greater good.
Set in 1986, Queens, New York, Irwin and his wife, Hester (Scarlett Johansson), and their two sons, Scott (Gavin Goudey) and Ben (Roman Engel) are the ordinary working-class American-Jewish family. Not totally satisfied in their material needs, but rich in family spirits, things change once Gary (Adam Driver), Irwin’s brother appears proposing an environmental clean-up proposal with Irwin in Brooklyn’s Gowanus canal after a new ownership by Russian immigrants. Gary, a beloved former police officer, and Irwin, an engineer, both get in too deep into the American criminal world.
The story ultimately revolves around the family tightness under peril and what we do under these drastic circumstances. For straight-shooter Irwin, a father whose tries to give all that he can to his children and as for Gary, the manipulative, yet lovable brother who tries to appease everyone. Hester also has a tragic dilemma, facing an illness kept secret to protect the family for their well-being. After the oblivious Irwin brings his sons to a nighttime site visit, the film’s tone shifts into sinister levels of suspense, bringing us into a dark world of terror through threats and cynicism.
But by far, Driver delivers his best career performance to date, carrying his large frame and commanding charisma into an electrifying and terrifying character. Always lighting up the room in social settings, from dazzling the children to impressing the adults through compliments and gifts, this directly translates into his deliberations with the Russian mob. Negotiating with the Russians after threatening Irwin in one of the most terrorizing scenes involving a home invasion and polaroids, Gary takes matter into his own hands, reverberating his powerful presence throughout the screen. In one scene, fed up with the Russian tactics, he calmly enters a restaurant with two Russian present and calmly greets, then whips them furiously in a ferocious matter that shifts the dynamics at hand. It’s one of the few moments we see Gary deviate from the family man, but his character’s mischievous nature convinces us of his enigmatic behavior.
But above Gary’s powerful presence, family is the true essence of his reasoning and the film, which Gray never lets up. Through the closeness of Scott and Ben, somewhat paralleling the loving kinship of Irwin and Gary, we see the nuances and boundaries of what we do for family. But when push comes to shove, the options for conciliation begin to run out leading to conflict. Gray’s tragic screenplay leads to a climatic shoot-out scene in a grassy field involving Gary that rivals the intensity of last year’s One Battle After Another’s car chase scene, both mastering the use of time, space, perspective, and consequence.
Gray delivers a gritty classical story of both codes and ethics within the family structure against the American system of the 80s. Gray’s classical and superb direction speaks to a forgotten style of American movies of the past, yet contains a deep care towards its characters through his formal aspects. His use of space and blocking becomes mesmerizing, allowing the camera’s movement, editing, and use of shadows seamlessly captivate you into its atmosphere and character intentions. While the use of the crime thriller is used as a function for family dynamics, its modesty can come off as simple, but its visual language and acting transform its emotional capability to the strongest degree.
Our team is on site for the 79th Cannes Film Festival, from May 12 to 23, 2026.
