If there’s anything in this world that doesn’t get enough credit, it’s the electrifying rivalries that bring out the absolute best in us all; whether it’s Gates and Jobs, Tesla and Edison, or Hemingway and Faulkner, some of history’s greatest struggles are what makes the world breathe.
And when it comes to entertainment, we often find tantalizing opposition between the opinions of film critics and audiences, the latter of which are flying high on Netflix’s The Gray Man, an action thriller from the Russo brothers. At We Got This Covered, the film got 3/5 stars, and it currently sits at a 49 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Among audiences, that rating is an infinitely kinder 90 percent.
Billed as Netflix’s most expensive project ever, with a budget of around $200 million, The Gray Man is an explosive, globetrotting manhunt of a film starring Ryan Gosling as CIA agent Court Gentry, who goes on the run from psychopathic gun-for-hire Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) after the former happens upon agency secrets that weren’t meant to see the light of day. Also starring are Ana de Armas (Knives Out, No Time To Die), Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), and Billy Bob Thornton.
Despite the panning from critics so far, audiences seem firmly on the other side of the fence, with many such reviews praising the film’s pace, choreography, and star-studded cast.
And so, The Gray Man joins the ranks of Where The Crawdads Sing and American Carnage as a recent film that has critics and audiences divided. If you’re curious to see which camp you fall under, The Gray Man is now available to stream on Netflix.