Paper Tiger review: Adam Driver is terrific in a crime drama that grips but never quite soars

James Gray has previously found fertile cinematic ground in tales of both Jewish family life in 20th century New York and the violent activities of the Russian mob, and those two elements combine to mixed success in this latest effort from the acclaimed American writer/director.

Paper Tiger – Gray's sixth film to premiere In Competition at the Cannes Film Festival – comes equipped with an A-list cast comprised of Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller, and takes us to 1986 New York as we explore a close-knit family's descent towards crisis after they acquire some dodgy new business partners.

Chiefly, it is a tale of two brothers. Teller plays Irwin, a mild-mannered and somewhat nervous family man, who is married to Johansson's Hester and is just about the last person you'd expect to voluntarily sign up for any sort of danger.

On the other hand, Driver – in his most charismatic and magnetic performance in years – is Gary, the livelier and more brash of the two siblings who is idolised by Irwin's sons and well connected around New York (owing at least in part to a past in the NYPD.)

The film kicks into gear when Gary lets Irwin in on a business opportunity he reckons could see them both hit the big time. The scheme involves consulting for a Russian firm who are undertaking a clean-up operation of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, and though initially hesitant about the proposition, Irwin is quickly won over by his brother's smooth-talking manner and the promise of a quick buck. Before long they're heading to the canal to meet with a gang of contacts who don't exactly scream trustworthy.

It doesn't take a genius to work out that this may not go according to plan or, for that matter, that the resulting fallout will drive a wedge between the two brothers. Of course, that's precisely what happens, and – thanks to a shockingly naive blunder on Irwin's part – his whole family wind up getting caught firmly in the crosshairs too.

Gray has shown many times before that he's a muscular director with an expert grip on texture, so it's no surprise that for the most part Paper Tiger looks and feels great, with a hyper-specific sense of time and place. He also stages some impressive set pieces, especially a genuinely creepy home invasion sequence that proves just how sinister the threat posed by Irwin's new business partners is, and a late action scene that evokes the "tiger" of the title.

But for all that the film gets right, there's also a feeling that it's held back by a few narrative and tonal shortcomings. At some points its presentation of the American dream gone wrong is underbaked and perhaps even a little clichéd, while at others it lurches towards overblown melodrama, with Johansson guilty of some pretty hammy outbursts. In other words, Gray seems to be aiming for both operatic and intimate at once, and the film ends up not quite soaring in either of those modes.

It doesn't help that Johansson is underserved by a far weaker storyline than her male co-stars, and a plot point concerning her health feels rather clumsily tacked on, even as it ends up playing a key part in the wider narrative. The film is at its best when it fully dials up the tension, and more moments like the aforementioned break-in – and especially its impact on the whole family – might have been more effective in making us truly fear for their plight.

Still, Teller and Driver really are terrific – the latter especially great when we discover both the extent of his force and the limits of his bravado. And so even with those aforementioned flaws, there's plenty here to savour, and more than enough for Gray's relatively small but extremely devoted band of die-hards to celebrate.

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