Ritchie's 'In the Grey' decent action film, not much else

"In the Grey" is an innocuous and relatively unremarkable new action flick in theaters now. Written and directed by Guy Ritchie, the movie is not bad, but it will be forgotten by the time I finish writing this review. Before the movie opens Bobby Sheen (Rosamund Pike) from giant Wall Street bank Spencer Goldstein loaned a billion dollars to an international criminal named Manny Salazar (Carlos Bardem). When the action begins an operative sent by Bobby to Salazar's private island to collect her money is murdered. Rachel Wild (Eiza Gonzalez) is a lawyer who specializes in asset recovery. She doesn't operate on the legal side of the law or on the illegal side of the law, but somewhere in the middle. In the grey. She approaches Bobby and offers to recover the entire billion dollars she is owed for the small fee of $200 million. Rachel utilizes a team of operatives led by Sid (Henry Cavill) and Bronco (Jake Gyllenhaal) as her own private regiment to support her efforts. The team begins a campaign against Salazar and his assets. Seizures in international tribunals occur one after the other, putting many of his assets on freeze. Salazar is particularly enraged at the seizure of his private jet and yacht. Rachel isn't done. She keeps on pushing and pushing until she gets what she wants: an invitation to meet with Salazar on his island off the coast of Africa. But she can't just show up unprepared. Sid, Bronco and the team have been on the island for weeks preparing for her arrival.&emsp;&emsp;Salazar has no intention of repaying his debt and he won't give up easily. The team needs back-up plans for their back-up plans if they want to get off the island alive. The plot of the movie is vastly more complicated than is described above. It's much, much too complicated. The steps taken to put pressure on Salazar and seize his assets are mostly baffling. It's hard to keep up with what's happening. All you really need to know is that the team puts pressure on Salazar so Rachel will get an invitation to the island. If you know Guy Ritchie, then you know he has a particular style, a certain panache. He makes movies that are cool and hip with clever characters who are always dressed well. He tries for that here, but doesn't quite reach his goal. "In the Grey" wants to be "Ocean's Eleven" on steroids, but it's more steroids than a slick caper film. What that leaves you with is an action flick helmed by three good actors. The movie is action packed, so there's no chance you will be bored. The movie features motorcycle chases, boat rides, gun fights and helicopter-based machine guns. It's everything you could ask for in an action movie. The problem is that I was expecting something more clever and stylish. Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal need no introduction. They are at the pinnacle of their careers, which is what makes their appearance in this movie surprising. It's surprising because the film made a whopping total of $3 million at the box office on its opening weekend. That qualifies as a bomb of epic proportions, especially with these actors and a well-known director.&emsp;&emsp;Cavill and Gyllenhaal make a good team, they play well off of each other. There was some laughter from the duo, but not nearly enough to lift the film any higher. Eiza Gonzalez also performed well. From the outside the movie has everything it needs to be successful. It's hard to say why the pieces didn't add up to a high-quality film. There's really not much more to say about this movie. It's a decent action film with good actors, but not much else going for it. Grade: C+Rated R for violence, language, and a sexual reference. ••• Bradley Griffith is a local attorney and longtime film buff.