PAPER TIGER (2026)
Two brothers try to navigate their way through the dangerous world of the Russian mafia, as family bonds begin to fray with life-altering consequences.
James Gray follows up Armageddon Time (2022)with another blue-collar drama whose acting talent carries a rather tepid screenplay. Paper Tiger and Armageddon Time share a certain amount of DNA, with both following working-class Jewish families in 1980s New York.
The movie focuses on father-of-two Irwin Pearl (Miles Teller), a down-to-earth reservoir engineer, and his high-rolling ex-cop brother, Gary (Adam Driver). Gary comes to Irwin with a head full of dreams and a promise to minimise his brother’s money woes. The only issue with this financial scheme is that it gets them caught up with the Russian mob.
Gary and Irwin think their trustworthy reputation and connections will keep them safe from repercussions. Yet, when Irwin makes what he thinks is a harmless mistake, the family learns they’re playing with dangerous individuals who don’t care about ruining the Pearls’ nice suburban life.
Part crime drama, part family drama, Paper Tiger also follows Irwin’s wife, Hester (Scarlett Johansson), and the Pearls’ squabbling sons. The family feels the pressure of having less than those around them, with the sons noting that everything they own is cheap junk.
Paper Tiger looks and is written like a Pacino movie from the 1970s. Gray and cinematographer Joaquín Baca-Asay give New York a nostalgic, gloomy warmth. The costumes and hairstyles feel authentic, as unflattering as they are.Johansson’s eyesore perm really adds to the film’s authenticity.
The film also feels timeless because its story and themes are enduring in America. Paper Tiger is ultimately a film about the American Dream—about men taking risks to improve their economic mobility and better their lives. That was Reagan’s America, and the USA still has the same hopes and fears four decades later.
The issue is that Paper Tiger wants to be a 1970s slick crime thriller so badly that it treads too much familiar territory. Gray did this better himself in We Own the Night (2007), not to mention the huge number of other films from that era that achieve the same effect in a much more entertaining way.
Paper Tiger tries to combine two different films, spreading itself too thin. It’s part family drama and part crime thriller, and the two mix like oil and water. Gray’s filmmaking skills lend themselves better to directing a crime film, so the family drama side veers into soap opera territory and lets the writing down. Gray is clearly trying to add texture to Irwin and Gary’s lives, but the home-life drama just comes across like unfinished side plots.
The element that does work in Paper Tiger is the relationship between brothers Gary and Irwin. Their dynamic is fascinating to watch and the shining star of Gray’s lustreless script. Irwin still idealises Gary in the same way his children do. Gary is the cop who managed to get out of suburbia and bag himself a fancy life with sports cars and young girlfriends. Yet part of this stems from Irwin’s gullibility, which keeps getting him into trouble throughout the movie.
One of Paper Tiger‘s better tricks is not revealing details about Gary’s career as a former cop until the second act. That means viewers see his career through the eyes of his brother and nephews, instead of learning the real reason he’s no longer on the force.
Adam Driver’s performance absolutely saves this film. It helps that he gets the meat of the script. If nothing else, Paper Tiger acts as a fantastic audition for Heat 2. Driver is a pent-up panther throughout, and the film offers occasional glimpses of who Gary really is; sadly, there aren’t enough. The moment Driver loses his cool and attacks criminals with a belt is a high point; it’s a shame the film doesn’t lean into this more.
Miles Teller is strong in the supporting role, despite having more screen time. His star power can’t match Driver’s, but it’s a solid character-actor performance playing an everyman patriarch. While Teller’s performance isn’t as showy or loud as Driver’s, he’s the heart and backbone of Paper Tiger.
Bizarrely, Scarlett Johansson delivers the worst performance of her career as the brash Bronx-born mum. The accent is bad, her frustration comes across as shrill, and in one moment that would spoil the film, Johansson makes one of the strangest acting choices of the year. It doesn’t help that she gets a poorly written character whose story leads nowhere,but she chooses to camp it up rather than try to tone down the melodrama. Compared with the more authentic performances of her co-stars, Johansson comes across as overacting.
Sometimes you underappreciate the genius of filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Tony Scott. And then you see directors like James Gray so clearly copy and paste scenes from their favourite crime dramas and realise how much style, care, and craft goes into their work.
Paper Tiger is an entirely watchable crime drama, largely down to Adam Driver’s powerhouse performance. Sadly, it lacks the grandiosity or ambition required to stand out from the countless other films set in this decade and genre. If you’re going to watch a character-driven mafia film, it’s probably not going to be this one.
FRANCE • USA • POLAND • ITALY | 2026 | 115 MINUTES | 2.39:1 | COLOUR | ENGLISH
Cast & Crew
writer & director: James Gray.
starring: Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Miles Teller, Gavin Goudey, Roman Engel & Victor Ptak.
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