THE GREY

                                                     
 Reviewed by Paul Gibbs
GRADE: B+
Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulrooney

Directed by Joe Carnahan

The Grey is a difficult film to review. It's made with stunning skill and talent. In fact, on that level, it matches many of the films nominated for this year's Academy Awards. And I consider this a particularly strong Oscar year. This is a huge surprise for a film released in January, typically Hollywood's dumping ground for duds. However, as brilliant made as The Grey is, it's not a pleasant film to watch. That's not always a bad thing, but viewers are likely to be very split on the issue of whether the movie is worth the downbeat feelings it inspires.

Liam Neeson stars as John Ottway, employed in the Alaskan wilderness to hunt wolves. When Ottway and a group of co-workers go down in a plane crash, Ottway becomes the de facto leader of the group, leading them back while protecting them from the elements, and, most importantly, from a ferocious pack of wolves. By description, and judging by the trailer, this is a fairly simple variation on the 1992 drama Alive (wherein a Uruguyan rugby team crashes their plane in the Andes and stuggles for survival) with the classic creatures feature. And, in it's basic structure, that's still an accurate description of the film. What's different is that Alive was a “triumph of the human spirit” story that balanced it's gruesome, harsh realities with an uplifting story of hope. There is no hope to be found in The Grey. On some levels, the brutal, bleak honesty of the film is refreshingly forthright. But it's hard for me to remember the last time a movie was likely to leave it's audience feeling as depressed as this one.

Director Joe Carnahan has fashioned some masteful suspense sequences that rival the best films of this type. I found myself utterly compelled and mesmerized, and more genuinely unnerved than I can any film making me feel in a very long time. In fact, at a couple of points, when an audience member who had forgotten to to turn off his cell phone let out a loud ring, I actually felt a sense of relief at being pulled out of the reality of the film for a moment. I wasn't actually stuck in the freezing cold and being hunted by wolves. It was just a movie.

Neeson, one of our greatest living actors, does some of the best work of career. He certainly has reached the pinnacle of his new-found “tough guy action hero” persona. One can almost imagine a Clint Eastwood character being intimidated by Neeson's character in this film. But it goes much deeper than that. Neeson's Ottway is a fully-fleshed out human being, and every emotion he feels resonates deeply with the audience. The supporting cast is also excellent, in particular Dermot Mulrooney, James Badge Dale, and Frank Grillo, who offer moments of devestating emotional realism. Neeson and Badge Dale share a scene which I would probably rank as among my top ten unforgettable moments in film history. And I don't say that lightly.

The Grey is also far more thoughtful than it's “Liam Neeson beats some wolves” trailers suggest. It deals with complex philiosphical and theological issues. I haven't decided yet whether it answers those questions. If it does, I disagree with the conclusions it draws. But I still respect the artistry of Carnahan and company in how they express them. But those questions add greatly to that disturbing, unsettling quality that makes it so hard to recommend the film to viewers. There's a difference between respecting a film and enjoying it, and I respected The Grey much more than I enjoyed it. Part of me wants to see the film several more times to study the brilliance of its technique. Another part of me doesn't think I can afford the vast spectrum of antidepressants that would require.

So, balancing out my conflicting feelings, I give The Grey a B+. The film easily earns it's R rating for violence, gore and profanity.