The Grey: Liam Neeson Faces The Call Of The Wild (A CherryOnTop Review)

7.5 out of 10 cherries

Any movie with Liam Neeson punching the bejeezus out of wolves is okay in my book. At least that’s what my movie buddy/survivalist consultant and I whispered to one another before we settled in to watch survival thriller The Grey, co-written and directed by Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team) and based on co-writer Ian Mackenzie Jeffers’ short story, “Ghost Walker.”

In this spectacular adventure tale, a plane full of hard-bitten Arctic petroleum workers bound for Anchorage crashes in the snow-swept wilds of Alaska. Among the survivors is melancholy loner Ottway (Neeson), whose job sniping wolves on the oil fields makes him uniquely qualified to face the dangers at hand. As the men battle to stay alive and find a way back to civilization, their motley band becomes the target of a vicious pack of wolves defending its territory against intruders.

Now, The Grey is no how-to guide for survival in the Arctic; my consultant friend keeps muttering that the characters really need to stop and build a debris hut or an igloo, and that the risk of exposure is far worse than wolves. Why aren’t they suffering the effects of hypothermia? They don’t look frostbitten enough, either!

These survivalist shortcomings don’t stop me from spending the movie curled up in a fetal position with my hot chocolate. In one electrifying scene after another, the survivors cope with injuries, hunger and blizzards, as well as the occasional cliff jump and a plunge into icy rapids. And all the while, they are dogged by the persistent and malevolent presence of the wolves.

Yet, The Grey is strikingly philosophical for a well-paced action film with no shortage of edge-of-your-seat moments. Keenly aware that they are treading that liminal zone between life and death, these hard men slowly begin to reveal their inner worlds. They speak the names of those they love. They remember their fallen companions. They wrestle with faith. Back on the oil fields, they boozed and brawled together but did not know one another, nor did they seek to. Now, huddled together around a fire on perhaps the last day of their life, they have no time but to be their true selves.

Joe Carnahan has not created a realistic survival flick so much as a stunning parable about life and death. It’s amazing how well he balances the adrenalin-charged action scenes with the exquisite unfolding of the characters’ personalities, and how perfectly the talents of his cast and crew contribute to the grandeur of the film. Our heroes appear tiny and fragile in the bleak, eerily beautiful landscapes that are so expertly captured by cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi. The CGI wolves are extremely well handled; often half-hidden in shadow or blurred in motion, they appear very real and provoke a truly primal fear.

Heading up the cast, Neeson brings a distinctive gravitas to his action hero role; Ottway is tough, pragmatic and high-minded in leading the other men to safety, yet nurtures a hidden grief, hinted at in flashbacks about his wife (Anne Openshaw). The talented actors playing the other members of Ottway’s pack also put on compelling performances, notably Dallas Roberts (3:10 to Yuma) as observant, soft-spoken Hendrick; Dermot Mulroney (About Schmidt) as devoted dad Talget; Nonso Anozie (Conan the Barbarian) as amiable Burke; and Joe Anderson (Control) as motor-mouthed Flannery.

Then, there’s Frank Grillo (Warrior), who puts on a stellar performance as Diaz, that cocky, irritating guy you least want to get stuck with in a survival situation; if you find yourself rooting for the wolves over him at times, you’re not alone. Yet even Diaz emerges as a human being worthy of empathy in his struggles.

One warning about The Grey: The tragic storyline, the imagery and the character development all prepare the way for the film’s ending—which may still give you a jolt. All I can say is that while it makes perfect sense, audiences may react strongly to it. Judge for yourself.

As my survivalist friend and I exited the theater, we were talking not about wolf-punching or about snow shelter construction, but about the sweet, intense sensation of living that you feel when you struggle for survival. The Grey will definitely satisfy your taste for thrilling wildlife adventure, but it’s a thought-provoking action flick; prepare yourself for a little soul-searching too.

- Elisa Mader
Twitter: @ElisaMader

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January 28th, 2012 | Dan | Comments Off |