James Gray’s Paper Tiger, the biggest American film in this year’s Hollywood-lite Cannes Film Festival, debuted on Saturday night to a spirited, six-minute standing ovation.
Paper Tiger follows Hester and Irwin, played by Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller, respectively, who are raising a family in 1980s Queens, when Irwin’s flashy brother (Adam Driver) sells him on a moneymaking endeavor that leaves them in the crosshairs of the Russian mob.
“To be very pretentious about it, the intention was to try to make a very classical drama,” Gray told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the film’s premiere. “People sometimes shit on that idea, ‘classical’ — they equate it with ‘old-fashioned,’ but the two are not the same thing. Internal conflict, struggle, love, emotion — that is never old-fashioned.”
Johansson told THR, “It had so many elements that I loved. It’s a big story inside of a small story.”
Of her character, a stay-at-home mom who’s determined to fight for more but faces fewer options when tragic news sets in, Johansson said, “I liked the idea of Hester being feminine and soft and graceful because she has a lot of chutzpah inside her.”
The Jurassic World actress was not on hand for the premiere, unable to travel because she is currently in production on the Exorcist prequel for Universal, but Driver and Teller walked the red carpet alongside Gray.
Gray tried to call Johansson during the standing ovation after the film screened, but she didn’t pick up. Still, there were big waves of cheers for Driver and Teller.
At Cannes, as with other festivals, the length of standing ovations is carefully tracked, and Gray jokingly tried to urge the audience to keep the adulation going, pointing to his watch. Ultimately the ovation lasted six minutes with Gray bringing it to an end by talking.
Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore and Pawel Pawlikowski could be seen applauding in the audience after the screening.
Addressing the audience, Gray said, “I have to say, as you probably can tell, looking at my face, I’m more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it. So this is very agonizing for me.”
“It’s not my first time here, you might know that,” Gray said, recalling how this was his sixth film to screen at the festival. “I will say that there’s much more gray now in the beard, not just the name but the beard. And I have learned finally to appreciate it, but more I appreciate you [the audience] because without you there is no cinema; cinema needs you. And cinema needs you guys more than ever. Really, this is a very important time, and Cannes is so important for that reason, and you are so important for that reason. So it always moves me greatly to see you here in this theater where I have very many great memories, and I love you all. What can I say? I’m going to leave soon so that I can hide.”
The director has a long history with the festival, debuting multiple films on the Croisette, and he was last here in 2022 with the Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong starrer Armageddon Time.
Neon will release Paper Tiger.
Additional reporting by Patrick Brzeski and Scott Feinberg.