The latest and greatest work from director Joe Carnahan (NARC, SMOKIN' ACES, THE A-TEAM ) both is and isn't exactly what you think it is. Sure, it's a movie with a group of oil company grunts returning home from Alaska for the winter, and when their plane crashes in the wilderness they spend much of the film fending off a steady barrage of wolf attacks. But THE GREY is so much more than that. It's really the story of men who need a life-or-death struggle such as this to remember that life is worth living, even if death is a certainty, either by the fangs of a wolf or the extreme and ruthless cold.
When we first meet Ottway, we discover he's being paid to walk the parameter of the company property to kill wolves that threaten employees. He carries a high-powered rifle with him at all times, and can snap it off his shoulder and shoot in a split second. He's also deeply depressed, and on the eve of his departure, he's preparing to kill himself by eating his gun. We know that his pain comes from something to do with his wife (Anne Openshaw), who we see in combinations of flashbacks and vision-like flashes. We're kept in the dark for most of the movie about why memories of her bring him such pain, but in the end that doesn't really matter.
The plane crash sequence is one of the finest I've ever experienced--it's chaotic, violent, and unbearably loud. It's the best I've seen since the one staged for ALIVE (a film that gets a joking reference here just before all hell breaks loose). Once on the ground, the survivors gather together to figure out whether to stay by the wreckage or start walking south to look for civilization. The presence of wolves makes the decision easier, and since Ottway has a knowledge of wolf behavior, they feel fairly confident that the walk will kill them before the animals. Wrong. Carnahan does a fantastic job keeping us more or less in constant fear of these attacks; they come unexpectedly in most cases and are over before we're even sure what has happened. And they are frequently bloody, in case you hadn't guessed.
Ottway emerges as the natural leader, although his authority is challenged and questioned, especially by Diaz, a primo asshole played by Frank Grillo. And as Ottway explains the wolf pack mentality of an alpha male leading a group of wolves that are constantly challenging his leadership status, we realize that we are not as far removed as we'd like to think. Other familiar faces in The Grey include an almost unrecognizable Dermot Mulroney and the always-calming force known as Dallas Roberts.
As often as he comes close, Carnahan (who co-wrote the screenplay with Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, the writer of the original short story "Ghost Walker") never turns things ridiculous or impossible. What these men do is all within the realm of possibility, and we know this because sometimes they die attempting some pretty insane actions to escape their pursuers. At one point, Ottway makes the point that wolves are the only animal that seeks revenge, and now that I know that I'm as unnaturally scared of being eaten by them as I am a shark in the ocean.
Perhaps the most glorious element of THE GREY is watching Liam Neeson really rip into this character, who is most definitely not an empty-headed action hero trying to save his co-workers. Ottway is just barely hanging on; his will to live was nearly sapped even before the plane went down. It's fascinating to listen to him and the other survivors spill their guts and examine what they have in their lives that keeps them going. And it makes the many deaths much more tragic, because these are real characters shedding blood in that snow. If I read a single critic or hear a single person tell me the film has too much talking or moves too slow, I'll slap them across their dirty mouth. Character development in a film like this is critical and necessary to building the drama and making us care when a life is lost.
I'm slightly disappointed that THE GREY wasn't released at the end of 2011, so it might have been considered for all of these awards accolades. Then again, I like that it won't get lost in the end-of-the-year logjam of "important" films. I've seen the film twice now, and I'd watch it again right now if I could. It got even better for me the second time because I could stop being tense about when the next wolf attack was coming and concentrate on the superb acting on display from each actor. As much as I'm sure the genre crowds will love this movie, I actually consider THE GREY a powerful human drama that also happens to have a steady stream of wolf attacks. Whatever it takes to get you in the theater, go with that, but I'd consider this film the first must-see-on-the-big-screen work of the year. I don't see all that blowing snow and vast landscape working on even the best home theater set up. Plus, an angst-ridden Liam Neeson can't be contained on the small screen. Go see this now.
