Paper Tiger
In 1986, engineer Irwin Pearl (Miles Teller, "Whiplash," "Eternity") had created a modest life in Queens for his wife Hester (Scarlett Johansson, "Marriage Story," "Jurassic World: Rebirth") and their sons Scott (Gavin Goudey) and Ben (Roman Engel) when his older brother Gary (Adam Driver, "Patterson," "Marriage Story"), an ex-cop now living the high life as a well-connected operator in New York City invites himself over, arriving in his sports car with take out from Peter Luger's. Turns out Gary's onto a potential deal that could set the family up with generational wealth, but when Irwin appears nervous about doing business with Russians, Gary assures him they are a "Paper Tiger."
Laura's Review: B+
Writer/director James Gray alights all over his past filmography with his latest, from his Russian mob debut "Little Odessa" to the conflicted cop brothers wrangling with Russians in "We Own the Night" and immigrants chasing the American Dream in "The Immigrant," all set in New York City. "Paper Tiger," originally conceived as a sequel to "Armageddon Time," feels of its era, a throwback to melodramatic thrillers of the 1990's with its moody lighting and neo-noir aesthetic.
One of the canniest things about Gray's script and direction is how he keeps changing our perceptions about these brothers. Gary enters Irwin's home like a conquering hero, Irwin's wife almost flirting, his two boys obviously idolizing their uncle and when he makes his pitch about the 'two mile strip of polluted waterway' in Brooklyn which he thinks could be cleaned up with his connections to regulatory bodies, we are as skeptical as Irwin initially is, especially, as he notes, the Mafia's presence. But after a meeting with Gary's contact, Alexei Yunov (Yavor Vesselinov), Gary dangles a $10K consulting fee under his brother's nose and Irwin cannot resist. Now feeling more important and successful, Irwin returns home and tells Hester he's taking the boys down to the site to check it out, despite her protestations that it is a school night.
Cinematographer Joaquín Baca-Asay ("We Own the Night," "Two Lovers") shoots the Brooklyn street Irwin parks on like a cross between a film noir and Grant Wood's 'Death on the Ridge Road' with its canted angle framing, and, sure enough, things go bad quickly when Irwin sees something he is not supposed to and is grabbed by two Russian thugs and badly beaten, his two sons left in the car terrorized with a gun and forced to flee on foot. The last thing Irwin is told is that they 'know where he lives.' Finding his boys, but not his car, the three arrive home, Irwin shaken, but staying mum about what happened, at least initially. He does call Gary, though, but isn't expecting the tongue-lashing he receives for being naive and stirring up trouble. Then Gary gets a call from Semion Bogoyavich (Victor Ptak) informing him that Yunov is no longer affiliated with the project and demanding $125K in damages because Irwin's presence scared off some of his clients, something Irwin is astonished his brother agrees to. But when Gary visits an old cop buddy, he learns his and Irwin's names have come up in an investigation into the Russian Mafia, the friends he was hoping to back him up no longer allied. The crisis intensifies when Irwin is woken by a flash, hears Russian voices coming from downstairs and, investigating, finds Polaroids of each member of his family sleeping in their beds. Hester freaks out.
And she has her own dire predicament. Having crashed into a pole after being blinded by the sun, she visits her doctor for a shocking diagnosis she only shares with her mother, Iris (Cindy Katz, "Heat"), once she has surgery lined up. And, foreseeing her sons potentially growing up without her, Hester secretly visits the F.B.I.
For the first few minutes, Miles Tellers' presence as a middle-aged dad and Johansson's accent made me too well aware of who I was watching, but this quickly dissipates once Driver enters the picture, Teller's response to his brother pride with a touch of envy that feels all too real, Johansson quickly settling into Hester's skin. And if, at first, Driver appears a shifty, smooth operator, that's because that's what he is, but as we will learn, it is not all he is. The film's last act is devastating, one fate given ghostly farewell, another found in a cornfield. "Paper Tiger" illustrates the insidious lure of corruption haunting the American Dream via one family's tragedy.
Robin's Review: B-
Ex-cop Gary Pearl (Adam Driver) proposes a get rich quick scheme to his engineer brother Irwin (Miles Teller). They have the chance to get in on the ground floor of an environmental cleanup of a polluted canal in Brooklyn, NY. The only problem is the Russian mafia is doing the polluting in "Paper Tiger."
Writer-director James Gray is blessed with a fine cast, especially the three principals – Driver, Teller and Scarlett Johansson – and a story that builds slowly, intrigues but made me scratch my head in the end.
Gary is a fast-talker who convinces his brother they have a lucrative opportunity, floating $10000 under Irwin's nose as a "consulting fee." It is too much for the struggling family man to ignore. That night, Irwin announces to his wife, Hester (Johansson), that he is taking his teen sons, Scott (Gavin Goudey) and Ben (Roman Engel), with him to perform a "risk assessment" on the canal site.
When they arrive at the dock very late at night, Irwin sees a lot of activity going on where it should not be. He leaves the boys in the car to investigate, only to be roughly seized by Russian thugs and beaten. Then, the boys are threatened at gun and knife point and forced to run away. Irwin, of course, calls Gary to tell him what happened. Gary is pissed at Irwin for acting on his own and stirring up the Russians' ire.
From here, things spiral down and out of control with, all the time, Gary assuring his brother and sister-in-law that he has everything under control. He does not and things escalate in not a good way.
As if this havoc is not enough, Hester, while driving the boys to school, has a car accident, smashing into a tree. She makes an appointment to see a doctor. Let us just say that the family's woes are just beginning. My problem is how the whole Hester story is handled, leaving me in a state of disbelief and doubt.
This not-well-handled side story conflicts with the drama with Gary, Irwin and the Russian mafia. I have a problem with how handily writer Gray wraps things up. But, do not worry, if you feared a happily-ever-after ending, no worries.
Neon releases "Paper Tiger" in select theaters on 11/13/26, expanding on 11/20/26.
