‘Paper Tiger’ Review: James Gray Delivers a Masterful Slow-Burn Crime Thriller
Writer-director James Gray (Ad Astra, The Lost City of Z) lends his distinct visual style to the dreary and somber atmosphere of his new film Paper Tiger. Aged, muted colors and dim, scattered lighting fill the screen, channeling the visual aesthetic of classic ’70s crime thrillers.
The cinematography here rejects the crisp, polished imagery of modern filmmaking in favor of a weathered aesthetic. Gray uses a weathered, yellow hue to create an authentic, immersive viewing experience. That immersion is essential to Paper Tiger‘s success, slowly dragging viewers along with its characters into a dark and dangerous underworld.
The story in Paper Tiger
The film maintains a slow, methodical pace throughout, even as the danger creeps closer and the paranoia sets in. By avoiding extravagant chase scenes and harrowing shootouts, Gray keeps the story grounded, making the danger and the fear feel authentic.
Paper Tiger‘s story follows Irwin (Miles Teller), who, after accepting a business opportunity promising quick cash from his brother Gary (Adam Driver), finds himself thrust into a criminal underworld inhabited by very dangerous people. With his wife, Hester (Scarlett Johansson), and kids now in danger, Irwin must find a way to keep his family safe.
The criminal elements of Paper Tiger are never fully explored or explained. That’s to the film’s benefit, leaving audiences as out of the loop as Irwin and his family are. It creates an element of naivety and uncertainty that helps to make Paper Tiger’s admittedly slow pacing feel taut.
James Gray is known for his restrained approach, avoiding manufactured spectacle and favoring a story that builds first and foremost around its characters. That rings true in Paper Tiger. On its surface, it’s a crime thriller, but at its core, it’s a character study and an effective relationship drama.
Miles Teller, Adam Driver, and Scarlett Johansson part of a fantastic cast
Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson are fantastic, each disappearing into the world they’ve helped to create and exhibiting a different display of the same emotion: fear. Johansson is frantic, Teller is stoic, and Driver is cool and calm. That calmness, however, is a facade, hiding the terror and uncertainty that Driver perfectly masks, allowing audiences to see only the most subtle clues to its existence.
Johansson puts on a thick accent, even thicker glasses, and dons a muumuu nightgown reminiscent of the one my grandma used to wear. While she’s not directly connected to the Russian mob plot, she’s given plenty to do as the innocent bystander dragged into danger through no fault of her own. As she learns of the danger that her husband and brother-in-law have forced upon her and her family, she’s overcome with emotion, her anger rivaled only by the terror she now feels.
Driver and Teller play brothers Gary and Irwin. Gary is a former cop, and Irwin is a mild-mannered family man. The two couldn’t be more different, but despite those differences, they maintain a close, loving relationship and an unbreakable brotherly bond.
This relationship serves as the catalyst for the film’s plot as well as the primary source for its themes of trust, betrayal, loyalty, and regret. Miles Teller has the most freedom and opportunity to explore the emotional tension and duress.
As Irwin, Teller’s given the opportunity to portray a protective father, devoted husband, and loving brother. He reacts differently within each of those roles, struggling between his protective instincts, his familial loyalty, and his lack of experience dealing with the criminal underworld.
Teller sells his anxiety and dread with a mostly subtle and subdued performance as a man so overwhelmed and out of his element that he’s uncertain of how to react. It’s a stark contrast to Adam Driver’s suave and confident demeanor, and the way the two personalities and performances balance against one another is one of the film’s biggest strengths.
Paper Tiger film rating and final thoughts
I found myself thinking of David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence while watching Paper Tiger. The two films are executed extremely differently, with Cronenberg injecting moments of intense violence and action throughout his story. But both movies explore the effects of an unexpected and unwanted run-in with organized crime on a family and suburban household.
I do wonder if mainstream audiences will struggle with the film’s methodical pacing and lack of spectacle. It is a movie that demands an audience’s full attention, and in this day and age, it’s difficult to achieve that with an increasingly distracted audience.
Paper Tiger succeeds in taking viewers back to the mid-’80s, crafting a world that feels authentically dated. The tension is woven slowly and relies heavily on the performances of its three leads. It’s a slow burn, gradually building towards its boiling point and a legitimately breathtaking conclusion. Cinephiles and fans of James Gray will almost certainly love it, while I fear general audiences may not have the patience for it.
Still, it’s fantastic to see Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson taking roles that allow them to showcase their dramatic range. To me, Paper Tiger is one of the best films of the year and the type of movie that gets me excited to see what Gray will do next.
Paper Tiger releases in theaters on November 20, 2026.
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