

MOVIE REVIEW: "The Grey" $10/10

Is this purgatory?

We have a group of men society left behind, working at an outcast oil rig in Alaska. These are the kind of men who only call each other by their last names. The plane taking them back to civilization crashes in an even more remote area, leaving an even smaller group behind to face the elements. One by one, they're all tested in some way. It's at that point a group of demonic looking wolves will come out of nowhere to tear them to shreds, taking their souls wherever it is they're heading.

Liam Neeson plays Ottway, the man with the thankless job of keeping everybody on the rig safe. He picks off darting wolves as they try to attack his fellow workers. They don't seem to realize how close they are to death. Ottway places his hand over the dying animal's body as it breathes its last breath.

Ottway is the masculine ideal - a man so loaded with respect, it seems to sicken the rest of the crew. He is a man who is strong enough to lead, has the wisdom to concoct plans, politically savvy enough to get them executed in the harshest of circumstances, and he's vulnerable enough to admit that he's "scared s---less." This is the kind of man who takes a lifetime of experiences into every word he speaks.

He is a man's man. He's the kind of guy we all like to see walk onto an airplane, because we know if something goes on, that guy is on board. He calls out God at one point in the movie, screaming "F--- FAITH, EARN IT!" You can almost hear the Almighty saying, "Whoa, whoa! Take it easy! Let's talk this out!" And when surrounded by a pack of angry wolves, Ottway won't run. He'll grab as many mini liquor bottles as he can, tape them to his knuckles, and...


So why does Liam Neeson play this role so well? I've been trying to figure that out. Suddenly, after 2010's "Taken" and now "The Grey," he is pop culture's new Chuck Norris. He's kind of taken over the old-guy-in-crazy-situations roles that Harrison Ford once owned. But Neeson is less movie star.

I am not the kind of man Ottway is, but part of me sure wishes I was. As somewhat of a nervous flyer, the plane crash sequence in "The Grey" was a bit too unsettling for me. It's perhaps the most masterfully executed air crash sequence I've seen. And the sound of explosion, crashes, cracking, screaming, wind......the's the kind of stuff that can give you nightmares.

So much happens in this movie, as a group of about 10 men are left behind to find....well....anything. And along the way, they have to evade the same wolves Ottway has been picking off on the rig. They are trespassors in unforgiving territory. Guess who has the upper hand?

Director Joe Carnahan is back to where he started, with the gritty, handheld realism that made his "Narc" such a success. Since then, he's gone on to make "Smokin' Aces" and "The A-Team," neither capturing the same intensity or impact of his breakout film. With "The Grey," he's mastered the balance of both suspence and delivery. As the movie moves along, and the characters become more isolated, Carnahan's camera settles down and takes in the scenery. It's like the movie is telling us it's time to let go.

And if you're wondering why all of those CG wolves look SO real, it's because Carnahan used actual animals and animatronics while shooting the movie. What a concept!

"The Grey" opens at a perfect time. It's a one-man story, but there is no Yippe-Kay-Yaying to be done. We have a hero who watches every person around him suffer the same fate, no mater how strong or smart he is. There is an OTHER out there in the darkness, no matter how many of these problems he tackles, there is one more there to take its place. There are no rescue choppers beating overhead. There is no cabin in the distance.

There is just....Grey.

"The Grey" is my favorite film of 2012 thus far (yes, it's only January 27th). It earns a Leshock Value of $10 out of $10.

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