The Grey Review

It has to be made clear from the outset that The Grey offers a lot more than your typical rough and grizzled tough guy movie. The screenplay from director Joe Carnahan and Ian Jeffers, the screenwriter of Death Sentence, is a lot smarter than you normally would find in this genre, the supporting cast are superb, and Liam Neeson turns in a star performance as the reluctant hero, who he plays with stark and fascinating darkness.

So although the remit for this thriller may seem run of the mill; Alaskan drilling team suffer a plane crash and land knee deep in hungry wolf country, there is respectable character development and a hefty amount of sincere emotion employed in this movie. There is also a subplot involving the leading character’s wife that is very poignant and provides a welcome respite for the admirably bleak landscape that dominates the movie,

Neeson ,as usual, brings to the screen a sense of commanding authority, even though this time his character is a terminally unhappy one. He is a guy who has seen some truly tough times, and it’s by sheer luck, both good and bad, that he finds himself in a position of both savior and survivor.

Everyone knows how well Liam Neeson turns his hand to both hard nosed action and serious drama, and here he gets the chance to combine the two, which he does effortlessly. This man is just great fun to watch,even in the movies when his character is not. This a departure for Joe Carnahan, and is a million miles away from the A Team, Smokin’ Aces and Narc.

The Grey looks, sounds and even feels as if it was an incredibly difficult movie to make, but the results are outstanding and plain for everyone to see. Full advantage is taken of the beautiful yet frigidVancouvermountains by the relative newcomer to movie cinematography, Masanobu Takayangi. Another relative newbie is responsible for the score; Marc Streitenfeld, and a great job he does with it too.

The previously mentioned subplot, which is integral to both the lead character and the movie, is employed very cleverly, and this movie shows exactly how a subplot should be developed, and other movie makers should take note.

This simple, and often tragic, adventure tales revolving around men lost in the wilderness, makes for some serious old fashioned fun, but there is obviously something bubbling beneath the surface of The Grey that makes it way cooler than most other mountain top misadventures, and we are treated to a damn fine movie on the back of this.