A Poem of Death – THE GREY
A group of men find themselves in a horrific survival scenario when their plane crashes in the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness, right in the midst of some highly pissed, highly territorial wolves. There you have the plot for 2011′s The Grey, a motion picture that stays with you, and which was marketed horribly – there hasn’t been a single trailer selling this film correctly: while the music cues and the presence of Taken‘s Liam Neeson sell it as an action film, it is in fact an altogether sad, desperate, hopeless, and oddly poetic drama. Savoring the bleak, hopeless ride that is Joe Carnahan‘s latest I wonder to myself – “how did the guy that directed Smoking Aces (2006) and The A-Team (2010) craft this gut-punch of a film whose honor I would fight for?” This is not to ‘dis his past work, but minus Narc (2002), I’ve found Joe to be a little… loud. Well, The Grey is anything but. What action there is is meant to pull at your heart strings, not make you go “fuck, yeah.” In fact it goes out of it’s way to evoke an intimacy which Carnahan maintains through aggressive close-ups, a sense of imminent dread, and a fragmented building of character, so that by journey’s end we know exactly what kind of men these are, and the lives they lead. We are invested in this group of cowards, heroes, fathers, etc. – some of them bad – who find themselves at the ends of the earth, forced to bond together in a common goal of survival. It’s a film that simply does not let up, running these characters through a gauntlet of pain from which there is no relief in sight. Writer/Director Carnahan gets A plus performances from his cast and uses the wolves as a metaphor, not a crutch (i.e. if you think this a film about wolves, think again), bringing details to life like a champion: who knew something as simple as a billfold could drive a narrative so cleverly? And the film has the best “Cussing Out God” scene since Conan The Barbarian. For that alone Joe has my respect. Lead actor Liam is already a presence in the film world, but here he lets it all hang out. Hitting a little close to home with its subject matter (Liam’s wife died in a skiing accident just a few years prior), his performance is easily one of his best yet. If you’ve been following us so far, you know we mainly recommend films – after all, our mantra is ‘what to watch when you’re stranded‘. So yes, I heartily recommend The Grey – it’s a ‘band of brothers’ on their worst journey ever. And it’s the only Joe Carnahan film to ever make me cry. There. I said it.
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Great review man. Absolutely loved this movie. Thanks for linking my review on here as well
I saw a test screening of this last month. This is ealsiy Joe Carnahan’s best film. I’ve seen all his work in theaters but nothing grabbed me like this. What impressed me was the level of depth that (some) of the characters get. This could’ve very ealsiy been a B movie slasher flick with a killer picking them off one by one type thing but it’s not. It’s not as elevated as ALIEN in that sense but it’s close. You feel for Neeson and most of his crew throughout the picture and they all get their moment to shine with a heartfelt scene (or two). It’s a welcome surprise by how good those moments are pulled off.The plane crash. Bitchin’. About as effective as the crash in CASTAWAY. When it was over, the audience applauded.The wolves. Excellent. Scary as hell. A few genuine holy shit jump moments. Carnahan makes them very effective by showing them at a minimun ala JAWS or ALIEN and they are aided by an excellent sound design that moves them beyond wolves as animals and more like wolves as monsters (in a good way). Even if some of the CG is a touch CG, you’re still scared for the characters to survive them.Liam Neeson. Buzz was that he could get an Oscar nod for this and he damn well should. Most of the movie he’s playing the good ol’ reliable Liam Neeson we know and love, but towards the end as the walls close in, holy shit, he brings it. The one nagging problem. He does not fight the wolf with glass knuckles. At all.At least not in the cut I saw. EVERYTHING up to that point works and then it’s over. Carnahan is trying to say It doesn’t matter if we see him fight the wolf, he’s at peace with himself and his fate and that’s enough, emotionally. But it’s not. The way the film is being marketed, the trailer, the poster. It’s making it look like a NEESON VS. WOLF showdown type thing. And I want to see that! And I bet you do too! I admire Carnahan for trying something ballsy like that, but it doesn’t work here. It’s a major emotional set up with a non pay off.But I stress, everything else in this movie rocks. I really, really loved it. It just needs an ending. I pray Carnahan is able to get Neeson back and shoot the fight that WE’RE ALL promised in the marketing. Not just for commercial reasons or because the good guy has to fight the bad guy in the third act etc it’s because the story calls for it. That confrontation is set up through out the entire film. Watching, you expect it. And you don’t get it. It needs to be there.If Carnahan puts in a final face off with the wolf that is emotionally satisfying, this could ealsiy be one of the best Man Vs Nature films ever made.