Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill described as ‘gay couple’ in new box office flop In The Grey
Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill in trailer for In The Grey (Image: Black Bear)
Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill have been described as playing a “gay couple” in Guy Ritchie’s new film In The Grey – but you’ve probably not heard of it judging by the fact it’s only made around $3million so far at the box office.
The film, which hit cinemas on 15 May, stars Gyllenhaal and Cavill as mercenaries hired to recover an enormous debt from a dictator.
On screen, the queer-coded reading is said to be less than subtle. One moment sees Cavill’s Sid and Gyllenhaal’s Bronco pretend to be a married couple to get into a hotel. Bronco also casually refers to “my husband” in front of their crew, and nobody reacts.
According to The Guardian‘s film critic Benjamin Lee’s, the two leading men are “they are for all intents and purposes playing a gay couple”.
Lee also says that there are references about prison sex.
Elsewhere, in his review for RogerEbert.com, Matt Zoller Seitz highlighted another moment of intimacy during a tense sequence. “As Sid is leaving Bronco alone in their truck to pull off a distraction,” Seitz wrote, “Bronco calls after him, ‘I love you,’ and Sid glances back in wordless affirmation. The moment is funny, but it’s not treated as a joke.”
But we’ve never heard of the film?
There has been no major press tour for In The Grey. In fact, neither Cavill nor Gyllenhaal have posted about its release on social media.
Ahead of its release, it had just four reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. It now holds a 46% score on the “Tomatometer” from 41 reviews.
Ritchie is known for stylised crime films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, as well as franchise work including Sherlock Holmes. But In The Grey is reported to be his worst box office since 2008, as according to Box Office Mojo it opened to just $3million in the US.
Coming Soon noted that the lack of buzz ahead of its release was worrying, suggesting the lack of reviews or social media reaction could mean the film did not do well with test audiences or reviewers.
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