The Grey
Hired to protect workers from the elements, outdoorsman, security guard, and survivalist, Ottway (Liam Neenson), is a broken man contemplating suicide while working for an oil drilling company in Alaska. On a return flight back to civilization, somewhere over the tundra, his plane crash lands. Surrounded by wolves and wicked terrain it’s up to Ottway to lead the group of survivors (Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Dallas Roberts, Nonso Anozie, Joe Anderson, and Ben Bray) to fight their finest battle yet and hopefully live to die another day.
Directed by Joe Carnahan, the same guy who brought you the A-Team, and Smokin’ Aces, it seems as though The Grey is a departure and much smaller scale film from what might be expected from Carnahan. Although, I’m not entirely convinced this is a good thing. First off the character development is half baked and stereotypical, there isn’t a fresh character in this film. The dialogue isn’t terribly impressive or artful prose. And then, repeated attempts at sentimentality through flashbacks eventually just run out of steam– even with what’s supposed to be a big reveal at the end. I get it, it’s supposed to be an artsy-ish film dealing with all kinds of conflict, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Man, Man vs. Self, I just can’t get myself to care enough or invest anything with most of the characters on the page. And, for what it’s worth, I’ve been told I should have sat though the credits for a bonus scene at the end of the film that might add even more obscurity to the whole plot, meh…Really more of a rental, The Grey is rated R.