Just as they did with Hitchcock's Vertigo, Kubrick's The Shining, and DePalma's Scarface, most film critics threw some heavy shade at Guy Ritchie's latest movie, In the Grey, when it hit theaters this spring.
As Collider reports, the action thriller that pairs straight hunks Henry Cavill with Jake Gyllenhaal as two very dangerous gay guys ā without stooping to homophobic stereotypes ā has now found success online.
Despite a critic's score of 47 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the viewing public rewarded In the Grey with an outstanding score of 83 percent. Sadly, that wasn't the number that mattered in Hollywood. The film reportedly cost $70 million and only earned a paltry $13 million. It soon left theaters and was sent straight to digital, where it's now found an audience.
Those watching this movie on streaming services like Amazon Prime Video rate it 4.1 out of 5, and FlixPatrol ranks it as this week's sixth most popular film to rent or buy in the United States. Cavill's very loyal fanbase is reportedly giving the former Superman star a rebound from the Kryptonite of bad reviews.
Cavill and Gyllenhaal play mercenaries hired by Wall Street to recover a huge debt from a despot, according to Pink News. They must pull off what's described as an impossible heist as they trot around the world to glamorous international locations to retrieve the loot. Ritchie not only directed, but also wrote the screenplay for In the Grey.
The movie was actually made back in 2023, according to The Guardian. After being bought and sold by Lionsgate, the studio changed the date of its release three times until finally unleashing it in April. The film wasn't screened the film in advance for critics, which is typically a sign that the studio has no faith in the movie.
The Guardian's out LGBTQ+ critic Benjamin Lee applauded Cavill and Gyllenhaal for how they played Sid and Bronco, respectively. In his review, Lee hailed Gyllenhaal and Cavill for "enjoying the homoerotic motions of their boys-with-their-toys preparation. Ritchieās films have long toyed with queerness and here, the sexual chemistry and undefined dynamic between the two men isnāt played for mean-spirited gay panic humour, they are for all intents and purposes playing a gay couple. The word husband is used and for every quip about lube or prison sex, thereās also a relatively earnest display of emotion."
The movie also stars Eiza GonzƔlez and reteams her with Rosamund Pike, her co-star from the in the 2020 Netflix dark comedy film I Care a Lot. In addition to Amazon Prime Video, In the Grey is available to pay to rent or buy on other streaming services including Apple TV and Fandango.
