Liam Neeson may be the oldest white actor capable of playing the tough guy without being the old tough guy. Throughout The Grey he does what he can to lead plane crash survivors through the frozen tundra of Alaska, and no one questions his age.
Director Joe Carnahan takes the audience into a bleak lifestyle amid the Alaskan pipeline. Ottway (Neeson) makes it through with flashbacks of his wife and a chilling voice over. The crash is shown from within the plane and avoids many of the common theatrics. No one is clearly shown being sucked out. For that matter most of the visual effects cast a less than ideal lighting circumstance, which drives home the motif.
Injuries, freezing winds, and a lack of food are enough foes for any survivors, but our heroes are being pursued by wolfs. I’m not suggesting that it’s impossible, but the behavior of these creatures puts on quite the show. They’ve certainly seen Halloween. Credulity is also being pushed to limits when the standards line such as “who made you the leader” have to be muttered and one hothead fancies a brawl. Of course Neeson’s dominance of the narrative makes him a safe bet, and his buddies a risk.
As the film wears on I wanted to buy these blokes more time. Despite how simple the premise I’m sure I could have been entertained for 3 hours. Maybe if the other guys had more spotlight scenes they wouldn’t feel so much like Ottway’s human shields.
The story is simple enough that a big reveal at the end is somehow more effective for the sake that no one was waiting for it. This isn’t mystery. What The Grey manages to do with the unexplored is leave the viewer with less question and more statements.
The Grey is a man’s movie. Fatigue and despair translate with the same forceful impact of the physical blows the survivors endure. It’s also a perfect example as to why one should wait for the monk’s reward at the end of the credits. ***½
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