Movie Review: ‘THE GREY’

Life and death. The horror genre is built upon these two words that have involved so many different characters and stories in films over the years.  Essentially in every horror film you are waiting to see who will live or who will die.  Does the character have what it takes to survive?  This is a simple idea that is usually made to be more convoluted through the inclusion of zombies, vampires, or deranged masked men.  Yet, it always comes down to whether or not someone is going to live or die.  In The Grey, hungry wolves take a back-seat to a stirring story that focuses on one man’s look back at the life he once had while comprehending that death now seems to be imminent.

Liam Neeson, who is no stranger to playing the tough grizzled hero, plays Ottway, a sharpshooter who protects Alaskan oil workers from any attacking wolves.  He wears his troubled life stories and personal pains deep inside the wrinkles and creases in his worn face.  The precise camera-work by Masanobu Takayanagi (Warrior) seems to emphasize this all the more.  Ottway and the team of workers are on their way home when the plane carrying them crash lands in the middle of nowhere.  Cold temperatures, lack of food, and unease among some of the men, are nothing compared to the wild wolves that hunt the group as they seek to find help.  In order to survive the winter weather and the pursuit of the pack, the men must work together and find within themselves the strength to go on.

The way director Joe Carnahan handles the initial plane crash should give you a clear hint of the style and intensity of the adventure you are about to go on.  Tight camerawork and frantic action drives home the feeling that you are there in the hull of the plane with these poor men.  It’s a brutal and jaw-dropping scene that feels more real than any crash put on screen before.  As one could expect, not everyone survives the crash which leads to our first glimpse at the emotional intensity Carnahan and his fellow screenwriter Ian Mackenzie Jeffers include to match the action.  I might have let out a tear myself in this heart-wrenching scene that shows Neeson on his acting “A” game. The wolf attacks later on are brutal and result in some fairly bloody carcasses, but the real shocker for audiences will be how invested you may become in these foul-mouthed macho guys.  Initially they exist as just a handful of guys with too much machismo to burn.  Yet, as the film progresses, we get to know these men for who they really are.  A lot of times with survival films of this nature, we get a series of heart-tugging character scenes towards the beginning of the film that seem to be forcing you into caring about the characters when they die later on.  Not really the case here.  The Grey, doesn’t necessarily conform to the standard structure and instead places the majority of the action in the first hour or so before finally really unveiling who some of the remaining men really are.  The storytelling present here feels much more organic and flows with an ease that doesn’t feel like its jumping through hoops to entertain you.  The highlight of the motley crew is obviously Liam Neeson.  His performance and so many of the others are grounded in reality and come off so incredibly natural.  This can be attributed to a smart and complex script but also to fine casting.  Another actor who really shines beneath the layers of thick coats and clothing is Frank Grillo as the tough-guy Diaz who doesn’t take kindly to Neeson taking over as the leader.  Diaz injects some excitement into the group dynamic even while the men are just sitting around the camp-fire talking about their lives back home.

Utilizing a combination of real wolves, practical effects, and CGI, The Grey showcases how well a horror film’s “monster” can look when all of the mentioned components come together in perfect harmony.  Not since the shark in Jaws or the creature in Alien has there been a more menacing force that seems to always be present (lurking in the shadows) even though it’s barely seen on screen.  Much of this feeling is due to the in-your-face sound design that constantly makes you question whether you just heard the wind through the trees or the growl of the hungry pack.  They are animals to be feared and Neeson’s Ottoway knows this.  Not only that, but he also knows to respect them.  This respect or belief for nature versus any spiritual faith is an idea that Carnahan hints at throughout before finally flat-out raising the question towards the memorable finale.  Ottoway has faced many problems on his own, one of which is shown through repeated flashbacks.  Yet, like his father’s poem that is shown in the film, he must go “once more into the fray.”  One who remembers Neeson’s personal loss of his wife not but a few years ago can’t help but think of the parallels between his real life and the character seen here.

Though it may look like a silly escapist adventure flick on the surface (or if you have seen any of the action heavy trailers), The Grey is more interested in being a thriller with heart.  Through these extremely realistic characters, the film makes you wonder why do situations like this occur?  We hear and read about similar stories like this every year. Is it fate?  Is it an accident? Or is it intended to be a renewal in the faith we have in ourselves?  The culmination of the group’s journey only makes you question this even more.  The overt philosophizing and what some may argue as pseudo-intellectualism that is peppered between the gory attacks may not be the stuff that some viewers will warm up to.  One thing is for certain though, The Grey is a bleak film that manages to celebrate both life and death.  Without a doubt, one of the best survivalist films ever made, and it is certainly one genre film that shouldn’t get thrown out and lost in the cold and forgotten weeks of January.