One of only two American films competing for the Palme d'Or, James Gray's 'Paper Tiger' has been one of the standouts of this year's Cannes Film Festival, revealing a new side to Miles Teller. The 39-year-old actor stars as Irwin Pearl, an earnest family man in 1980s New York, living contentedly with his wife (Scarlett Johansson) and two sons. After Irwin's well-connected, former police officer brother (Adam Driver) gets them involved in a scheme related to cleaning up the Gowanus Canal, Russian mafia threats put their working-class life under siege.
A New Direction for Gray
Gray initially conceived of the film as a kind of sequel to 2022's 'Armageddon Time,' with Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong. But when circumstances changed, he reworked the script, made it more operatic and focused on the brother relationship. 'I did not want to play into a schlemiel quality in that character. I wanted him to have some strength and fortitude in order to portray the vulnerability,' Gray says of Teller's character. 'It's a great performance, I'm just going to say it.'
How They Came Together
The day after 'Paper Tiger' debuted in Cannes, Teller and Gray met in a hotel down the Croisette to discuss the ideas and inspirations behind the movie, which Neon will release theatrically later this year. Gray recalled first hearing about Teller from Damien Chazelle, who worked with him on 'Whiplash.' Later, Gray saw Teller in the miniseries 'The Offer' and was impressed by his ability to convey warmth and tenderness. Teller, meanwhile, was drawn to the project during a chaotic time in his life after losing his home in a fire. 'I always had a lot of empathy for Irwin in this and for the Pearl family and what happened to them. But I honestly think a lot of that came from having lost my home and really looking for those feelings, of everyone being together as a family in this place that felt safe until it didn't,' Teller said.
Themes of Toxicity and Morality
The film deals heavily with toxicity in American life, from the sludge in the Gowanus Canal to organized crime and cancer. Gray sees the physical pollution as a metaphor for moral and ethical decay. 'When you have no ability to monetize integrity, good behavior becomes a meaningless factor in a transactional world,' Gray said. He noted that this reflects broader societal unrest, where being a good person is not rewarded by the system. 'I don't want to get too political, but look at the person running our country. It's all transactional. It's: What can you do for me? So where does that lead us? If to be a moral person doesn't mean anything, that is an empty, empty position.'
Teller's Evolution as an Actor
Teller acknowledged that playing a family man and father was a new challenge. 'I've had a newborn in a film before but I have not played a character that's been a father and raised kids. It was something I was kind of struggling with,' he said. He drew inspiration from his own father and grandfather, who were strong yet sensitive men. Gray cautioned against sentimentality, emphasizing the difference between genuine emotion and synthetic sentimentality. 'Any time one of you guys conveys one of my directions, I'm humiliated,' Gray joked, but he stands by the distinction.
