Paper Tiger

by Mike McGranaghan

James Gray has long made movies that aim to explore personal subjects. Ad Astra dealt with father/son dynamics, Armageddon Time tackled generational family issues, The Immigrant grappled with the problems faced by immigrants, and so on. The director’s latest, Paper Tiger, harkens back to his 2007 work We Own the Night. Both depict a brotherly bond imperiled by association with the Russian mafia. He may be slightly repeating himself in terms of subject matter, but this is still a taut, tense story highlighted by magnificent performances.

Irwin Pearl (Miles Teller) is an engineer living in 1986 Queens with his wife Hester (Scarlett Johansson) and their two sons. Their eldest is getting ready to depart for college, leaving the family concerned about finances. A solution presents itself when Irwin’s businessman brother Gary (Adam Driver) offers to cut him in on a new venture. Russians have recently taken control of a contaminated stretch of waterway and need help in bringing it into compliance. Together, they will offer consultation services, relying on Irwin’s expertise. Those Russians are up to no good, landing the brothers in a dangerous predicament.

Paper Tiger works a particular type of storytelling magic. Gray carefully shows how dealing with the Russians is like stepping into quicksand. Irwin performs one innocent act that instantly makes his new associates paranoid. Once that paranoia hits, they meticulously trap the Pearl siblings, exploiting them to get what they want. Irwin panics as he realizes his family might be in jeopardy, and we feel that panic, too. The film builds an uneasy vibe that grows the longer it goes on. Like Irwin, we realize something bad is unavoidably going to happen.

Compounding the tension is a subplot involving Hester’s health. Johansson is not here to play a stereotypical “worried wife.” Her character has an entire arc that directly factors into the Irwin/Gary thread. Hester makes a very reasonable, logical decision at one point, but because she doesn’t have all the information, the choice has a profound impact on what happens with her husband and brother-in-law. The actress gives one of the most layered performances of her career, fully disappearing into the role.

Teller and Driver are equally great. They create an effective relationship among the polar-opposite siblings. Irwin is family-oriented and down-to-earth. Gary is flashier – a moneymaker perpetually on the prowl for the next big payday. As the walls close in on them, it’s riveting to see how they individually react. Gary tries to smooth things over with the Russians to keep his brother safe. His schmoozing only goes so far, though, ultimately creating a strain between the men. Driver, in particular, proves magnetic, playing Gary as a guy who thinks he can talk his way out of anything – especially since he’s a former cop with friends in the NYPD – and then has to confront the idea that maybe he can’t.

Paper Tiger succeeds as a thriller and as a character study. The plot puts you in a state of continual suspense through its increasingly dramatic developments, while interactions within the Pearl family capture the psychology that forms during a pressure cooker scenario. With atmospheric cinematography and a sharply written screenplay, the film is transfixing from the first shot to the last.